38-community-seeding-global

Follow the 9:1 self-promotion norm: contribute nine genuinely useful posts for every promotional one, use one real account per person, and complete at least two weeks of warm-up participation first. Quote each subreddit's self-promotion rule verbatim before posting, since subreddit rules override general norms.

Community seeding is participating in existing communities like Reddit, Discord, Slack, and Quora as a real, disclosed team member rather than placing ads. The plan covers community selection, participant warm-up, four post types written in full, response scripts, and a measurement table.

Yes. FTC rules (16 CFR Part 255) require clear, conspicuous disclosure of any material connection — employment, payment, equity, or affiliate commission — in the post itself, not just in a bio. A simple line like 'I work at [company], so treat this as biased' satisfies the standard.

No. Brand-authored or employee-authored reviews presented as independent customer opinions violate the FTC fake-review rule (16 CFR Part 465) and carry civil penalties. Customer stories must be written by the customer, with permission on file, and clearly attributed.

Do not run the seeding plan — a new account with no history is not usable for this work. Instead, work with creators who are already members of those communities through a disclosed paid arrangement, using a UGC or creator-brief approach.

It is wrong for building your own paid or private community, monitoring brand mentions across the web, or briefing paid creators — those need dedicated community-building, social-listening, or UGC-brief skills. It also fails whenever the plan only works because the audience does not know who is behind the post.