Instant Karma?

[jamespup]

maybe it's been there for a while, but I just noticed....what's this karma rating?

[Aldous]

Forgive me, but I only just noticed "karma: 0" beside my name and picture.

Please explain.

[Super Monkey]

I have no idea.

[MatterEaterLad]

It looks like a software feature that Rao turned on, I've seen it on other forums.  Users can click on plus or minus and raise or lower other users' "karma".  It usually turns into a contest of raising or lowering folks' numbers based on whether you agree with them or not.  Personally, I'd rather the posts just stand for themselves, its all just opinion anyways.

[Daughter of Krypton]

I've added a poll at the top of this thread to see what the overall feelings are about karma.  If you're not sure, I suggest waiting a while before voting - and you can also change your vote if you change your mind.

Yes, this is an option in the forum software which I just turned on.  Currently, only members with at least 100 posts can effect other's karmas.  You can effect another member's karma once per hour.  This is configurable, it could be once per day, once per minute, etc.

I don't see karma as being used for posts you agree with or disagree with, but for whether or not someone is a constructive contributer to the forum.  ie, if someone posts really good posts, s/he would get karma points for it.

But ultimately, how - or even whether - karma gets used is up to you guys.

[MatterEaterLad]

Seems reasonable, I've just seen it abused on other forums, but those had many members and were often political in nature.  Aside from a very few users over the years, I find this place full of people who post interesting ideas whether I agree with them on the quality of Bronze Age writing, comics philosophy, or how good Superboy was in the 80s or not..

[Super Monkey]

OK, I say keep it for now as an experiment.

[Aldous]

Esteemed moderator, as I distinctly remember starting this thread, and giving it the name "Instant Karma?", how did jamespup become the thread starter and make a posting that's ahead of mine?

 

A neat trick.