I think it's important to acknowledge that in social networks attempting to manage their communities through mechanisms like this, there's a tacit assumption th

I think it's important to acknowledge that in social networks attempting to manage their communities through mechanisms like this, there's a tacit assumption that everyone participating is a: human and discrete b: in good faith while of differing opinion still This is not true. As long as social networks have a worldwide reach and a real-world significance, it'll be valuable to accumulate bots/minions to compose an aggregate person, representing some force or entity, and then use that brigade to direct discourse. If it becomes expensive to do this, it takes the behavior out of the hands of small groups and reserves it for the most powerful and well-resourced actors. The question to ask here is how expensive karma farming will be, and how easily can it be coordinated by outside forces in the absence of 'good faith, discrete, human actors'.