3 ms·
Meaningless how? In some absolute sense? It's a metric that, like any public metric, will guide behavior. The question to ask is "how will it guide behavior?"
by andreyf 17y ago
Meaningless how? In some absolute sense? It's a metric that, like any public metric, will guide behavior. The question to ask is "how will it guide behavior?"
The most quick/intuitive explanation is probably the best explanation - I think it'll make people think twice "is this more insightful than my average comment?" before hitting Submit. As the community grows, this is exactly what we need: incentives for commenting less, and reading more.
- jacquesm 17y agoAverage karma is meaningless because there are many modes of use of HN that are very useful and that will inherently lead to a very low average karma.
- andreyf 17y agothere are many modes of use of HN that are very useful and that will inherently lead to a very low average karma Such as? Also, I'm claiming that as a community grows, it's vital for people to post less often - preferably only on topics regarding which they have something truly insightful to share. Your counter-claim would need to be stronger: you need to show that the "modes of use" you speak of are vital to the community, that there is harm in disincentivising them.