Votes are important because it reflects the pertinence of the contribution and it should logically influence karma of contributors. The more voters, the more

Votes are important because it reflects the pertinence of the contribution and it should logically influence karma of contributors. The more voters, the more significant is the voting result (see central limit theorm). If users can only up vote, the vote value is the same as the number of voters. But if users can also down vote, then the number of voters is a missing information. The number of readers is also a missing information. If v is the vote value and n is the number of voters, v/n is the score. It is a value between -100% and 100%. 1/n is the vote weight on the score. A big vote weight could motivate people to read and vote. Karma would also influence vote weight. The number of readers is also a usefull feedback, a kind of popularity, and it should also somehow influence karma. Adding the possibility to view news sorted by score, popularity and/or weight would give new perspective on the information. Last year I wanted to create an electronic journal using this mechanism with other features I'll keep secret for now. I had to give up for various reasons, though I still believe it can work if it gets enough funding to prime the money pump. The name 'ejnl.com' is now to sell. ;-)