EmojiPT

Two months of coding. One week of launching. And then Reddit shadowbanned me.

Not because I spammed links. Not because I broke rules. Just because I posted about my side project too often. Every old post got wiped. Even from 3 months ago.

I won‘t lie — it stung. I thought Reddit would be my main growth channel. Turns out, for a solo developer with a new account, it‘s a trap.

So I‘m changing strategy.

Instead of begging for upvotes, I‘m focusing on channels that actually welcome builders:

1. Product Hunt — launching today.

2. Indie Hackers — already posted. The engagement here is 10x more valuable than Reddit.

3. AI directories — Futurepedia, TopAI.tools, etc. Passive SEO traffic.

4. LinkedIn — my personal network. One post from a friend got more reach than 5 Reddit posts.

What I learned:

• Reddit hates self-promotion, even if you follow the rules.

• Indie Hackers actually wants to hear your story.

• Product Hunt is a sprint — prepare your hunter, your images, and your comment templates.

What I‘d love to know:
If you launched a product recently, what channel gave you your first 100 users? I‘m all ears.

And if you‘re struggling with Reddit too — you‘re not alone. Don‘t let it kill your motivation. There‘s life outside the front page.