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You forget that it's a really good filter for new users. Over time, as your karma gets higher, I believe you'll think about it less - but for the new user who's

You forget that it's a really good filter for new users. Over time, as your karma gets higher, I believe you'll think about it less - but for the new user who's likely to be rude and probably doesn't yet get the community, karma is a rather useful tool. I can attest to that - I'm a new poster; and I'm still getting the feel for the community here. Karma helps bring me up to speed far quicker than other existing forum systems.

eplanit 17y ago
Yes, the tool of group-think. "Rude" comes to mean disagreeing too often. Being critical is often deemed as "disagreeing". The same holds for "doesn't yet 'get' the community". All these loaded terms: get, community. It's a great place to find references to good articles. I find participating in discussions, over time, a huge time drain and stress producer. It's anonymous debate with the masses (smart as many of them are), with an applause meter running the whole time.
- shadowsun7 17y ago
  ...with an applause meter running the whole time Good point. That said, at a crude level Karma works for telling the user what kinds of comments are expected. I am tempted, for instance, to make funny one-liners on some HN topics. Karma makes me rethink that decision, as in: does it contribute to the discussion? The posters here seem to reward intelligent analysis, so maybe a one-liner isn't a smart move ... and so on so forth.
- Semiapies 17y ago
  Or where rude just means "rude". Certainly, various geek social dysfunctions tend to get a free pass (empty snark, ridiculously aggressive tone, ignoring most of what someone's said to knee-jerk on minutia, etc.), but you'll get that in any geek crowd. HN does tend to react properly to other forms of rudeness. I like votes as a clue to the reactions of the people reading threads, myself. I don't always agree with or approve of the reactions (this place is not exactly great when gender issues come up), but that's just dealing with people. Mind, sometimes it just isn't worth dealing with people - there's nothing wrong with skipping the chatter if it's not useful to you. (Personally, my main gripe is that people tend to vastly prefer a short, pithy remark over a clearly-written and more nuanced bit of, say, anything more than this comment's length. To see an offhand remark I spent a second typing get double the votes of something I've more seriously considered irks a bit.)
  - eplanit 17y ago
    I love it! I just got downvoted (implying I have "bad karma") because I _thanked_ a poster for an entry I found helpful. I guess I was being "rude" by thanking him. "Mind, sometimes it just isn't worth dealing with people". Agreed! Again, a good place for articles, but I'll avoid the schoolyard from here on out. Enjoy your "community". I know. Here it comes: 3-2-1.....down-voting ensues.
Qz 17y ago
Same -- some of my first comments got downvoted (probably for being sarcastic) and I quickly learned not to post stupid things. Not because I cared that people downvoted them, but because karma is like points, and more points is good. I'm a very simple creature.

eplanit 17y ago

Yes, the tool of group-think. "Rude" comes to mean disagreeing too often. Being critical is often deemed as "disagreeing". The same holds for "doesn't yet 'get' the community". All these loaded terms: get, community. It's a great place to find references to good articles. I find participating in discussions, over time, a huge time drain and stress producer. It's anonymous debate with the masses (smart as many of them are), with an applause meter running the whole time.

shadowsun7 17y ago
...with an applause meter running the whole time Good point. That said, at a crude level Karma works for telling the user what kinds of comments are expected. I am tempted, for instance, to make funny one-liners on some HN topics. Karma makes me rethink that decision, as in: does it contribute to the discussion? The posters here seem to reward intelligent analysis, so maybe a one-liner isn't a smart move ... and so on so forth.
Semiapies 17y ago
Or where rude just means "rude". Certainly, various geek social dysfunctions tend to get a free pass (empty snark, ridiculously aggressive tone, ignoring most of what someone's said to knee-jerk on minutia, etc.), but you'll get that in any geek crowd. HN does tend to react properly to other forms of rudeness. I like votes as a clue to the reactions of the people reading threads, myself. I don't always agree with or approve of the reactions (this place is not exactly great when gender issues come up), but that's just dealing with people. Mind, sometimes it just isn't worth dealing with people - there's nothing wrong with skipping the chatter if it's not useful to you. (Personally, my main gripe is that people tend to vastly prefer a short, pithy remark over a clearly-written and more nuanced bit of, say, anything more than this comment's length. To see an offhand remark I spent a second typing get double the votes of something I've more seriously considered irks a bit.)
- eplanit 17y ago
  I love it! I just got downvoted (implying I have "bad karma") because I _thanked_ a poster for an entry I found helpful. I guess I was being "rude" by thanking him. "Mind, sometimes it just isn't worth dealing with people". Agreed! Again, a good place for articles, but I'll avoid the schoolyard from here on out. Enjoy your "community". I know. Here it comes: 3-2-1.....down-voting ensues.

Qz 17y ago

Same -- some of my first comments got downvoted (probably for being sarcastic) and I quickly learned not to post stupid things. Not because I cared that people downvoted them, but because karma is like points, and more points is good. I'm a very simple creature.