Why do people try to get random pictures on the first page of reddit?

[MarieHaynes]

I'm fascinated with reddit.  Yesterday I did an IAMA and got lots and lots of comments.  In the comments I was able to refer back to some pages in my website which got me some traffic.

I can see the benefit of getting your website featured on reddit.  But, I'm wondering how people benefit from putting random pictures on reddit (that don't link to their sites at all.)  Is there something that can be done with the link karma that you get?  Am I missing something?

btw...I just posted a random picture on reddit just for fun as I realized that my daughter has reddit pajamas: http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/k5kv3/i_just_noticed_that_my_daughter_has_reddit_pajamas/

[StalkerB]

How are they Reddit pyjamas? There's no up or down arrows

Pictures will almost only do well if it's a comic or hosted on imgur.

AmAs are good because of the reason you mentioned. If it's a popular AmA then you can get a lot of traffic.

News stories that make the front page can send hundreds of thousands of visits, but Redditors hate marketers with a passion, so you have to have a genuine story. Posting any old nonsense will just get you downboats.