I think it can really be summarized as the following: adding something to the community. It can be a new relevant story/project submission or a comment with an

I think it can really be summarized as the following: adding something to the community. It can be a new relevant story/project submission or a comment with an on-topic question/anecdote. As long as it adds something new and different,(I say different here because it can't just be a re-iteration of someone else's post, within reason) users will find it karma-worthy. Users here being users like me and probably your average user on HN.