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Thank you for speaking my mind. I have been saying this wherever I see these karma-mechanisms being employed (likes, hearts, click buttons). I have not seen any

Thank you for speaking my mind. I have been saying this wherever I see these karma-mechanisms being employed (likes, hearts, click buttons). I have not seen any website disclose to explain what exactly these button-clicks do to help anyone? These are basically waste of time and useless. I would not have helped you a bit if I had just clicked the up arrow on your comment (nor would I have helped the HN owners with the same action). But I hope this comment of mine would give you some food for thoughts (or neuron activities). The problem is, platform like HN (and many others) do not have any technology in place to derive the real "value" out of single person's comment(s). Forget the aggregate subjective value, they don't even have anything objective to show either. So if I have millions of karma points, I am supposed to be better in value? And useless if I have zero or karma in negatives? According to whose criteria? That's a failure of social media in general. None of these Likes, Retweets, hearts, or whatever, helps anyone in any substantive manner. These scoring points values do not help anyone in any substantive manner.

groby_b 10y ago
> I have not seen any website disclose to explain what exactly these button-clicks do to help anyone? Wild guess, you entered the world of online interactions after mailing lists. These buttons address the need of people to be "contributing". Before "+1"/"like", we had "me too". People want to feel like they're supporting views they like, and that button gives them that way, leaving space for more meaningful contributions in the actual text. It's the same thing as a nod in a 1:1 conversation. "I'm paying attention, I'm here, I agree, continue". That's where they help, allowing a flow of communication that suits people. Looking at the cumulative number of those... "Narcissism" comes to mind.
- webwanderings 10y ago
  I've been communicating online since the days when Yahoo bought the eGroup/Onelist. The "me too" is fine, but ultimately, what does all these clicks entail in a long run? Have they helped reduce the clutter and/or enhance the value of the conversation? What about the value of the commentator and his/her aggregate contribution? Do the number value provide any insight? Say that I may be an expert on Topic A, and I have gathered a whole lot of numbers (karma, or whatever else) due to my expertise on Topic A. What does that say to the reader, on my lack of expertise on Topic B, C, D? The "me too" does not actually add anything to the value and diversity of opinion (other than it adds to the group-think).
adrianratnapala 10y ago
At HN at least, it looks like the +1's do some work in prioritising both posts and comments. That is, newer entries are shown first, but high-voted ones stay near the top longer. At least that's the vague impression I have gleaned.

groby_b 10y ago

> I have not seen any website disclose to explain what exactly these button-clicks do to help anyone? Wild guess, you entered the world of online interactions after mailing lists. These buttons address the need of people to be "contributing". Before "+1"/"like", we had "me too". People want to feel like they're supporting views they like, and that button gives them that way, leaving space for more meaningful contributions in the actual text. It's the same thing as a nod in a 1:1 conversation. "I'm paying attention, I'm here, I agree, continue". That's where they help, allowing a flow of communication that suits people. Looking at the cumulative number of those... "Narcissism" comes to mind.

webwanderings 10y ago
I've been communicating online since the days when Yahoo bought the eGroup/Onelist. The "me too" is fine, but ultimately, what does all these clicks entail in a long run? Have they helped reduce the clutter and/or enhance the value of the conversation? What about the value of the commentator and his/her aggregate contribution? Do the number value provide any insight? Say that I may be an expert on Topic A, and I have gathered a whole lot of numbers (karma, or whatever else) due to my expertise on Topic A. What does that say to the reader, on my lack of expertise on Topic B, C, D? The "me too" does not actually add anything to the value and diversity of opinion (other than it adds to the group-think).

adrianratnapala 10y ago

At HN at least, it looks like the +1's do some work in prioritising both posts and comments. That is, newer entries are shown first, but high-voted ones stay near the top longer. At least that's the vague impression I have gleaned.