3 ms·

Ironically posting on new that is likely gaming karma, per the article. I think a few years ago (almost 10, sheesh) when I started out, it was similar. Basical

Ironically posting on new that is likely gaming karma, per the article. I think a few years ago (almost 10, sheesh) when I started out, it was similar. Basically, most of your karma comes from a few very upvoted comments, or ones that are early and garner conversation. I think something like 3 or 4 got me to 500+ (it's been so long that I forgot the threshold for downvoting). Never had luck with article submissions but getting one to front page does give you a lot of karma too, apparently. Also, while "upholding the median political viewpoint" is a surefire way to get upvoted, it is worth noting that that can be a moving target and changes from article to article. Poo-pooing crypto on any average crypto article will garner downvotes if it's in a thread likely to be read by crypto enthusiasts, while shitting on web3.0 on another article about the current collapse of everything crypto will engender karma from people who are skeptical. Anyway, the point isn't that there really isn't any median politics here on HN, just that for some topics, it does vary, while for some it doesn't.

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
Just post about whatever gripes have with Google in one of weekly "Google Bad" threads.
jonnycomputer 4y ago
#upvotes !~ effort put into comment either you were one of the first to comment, said something really flame-baity, or were just lucky. most of my high-effort comments fell flat, while I get a +160 from a lucky two sentences.
- mindcrime 4y ago
  #upvotes !~ effort put into comment Absolutely true in the strictest sense. I've posted very detailed, well researched, citation filled comments in response to questions from people, and gotten absolutely zero upvotes before. OTOH, I've posted borderline flamebait comments that consisted of something like "Fuck the NSA" or whatever, and gotten hundreds of upvotes. That said, I think that on balance higher quality / higher effort posts are more likely to garner upvotes. But it's definitely not a deterministic, linear correlation at all.
  - noobermin 4y ago
    HN has many problems and groupthink like all online communities, but one thing that sets it apart is higher quality effort posts are actually rewarded here because people still are generally curious. It's not deterministic as you said, but there is a correlation. On every other platform save some (some) subreddits, effort posts are anti-correlated with karma. So on net HN is better. Is it the Lyceum, the height of learned, reasoned debate and intellectual curiosity? No, HN is definitely not an ideal but it is certainly better, on net compared with the alternatives, not that the alternatives are harsh competition.
- cupofpython 4y ago
  effort put into comment !~ value of comment to others
jandrese 4y ago
It should be noted that the author's maximially downvoted comment was one that didn't make any sense[1] so it does give another tip on what not to do. [1] Serving web sites off of a blockchain somehow.
Tomte 4y ago
> but getting one to front page does give you a lot of karma too, apparently. Don't overestimate that effect. I'd say a hundred or maybe two hundred is realistic, but quite often a front page submission only nets you a dozen. Of course there are outliers in the other direction, but 500 or more is a rare event. You need to keep in mind that karma is discounted, a story that displays n upvotes will add << n points to your account.

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago

Just post about whatever gripes have with Google in one of weekly "Google Bad" threads.

jonnycomputer 4y ago

#upvotes !~ effort put into comment either you were one of the first to comment, said something really flame-baity, or were just lucky. most of my high-effort comments fell flat, while I get a +160 from a lucky two sentences.

mindcrime 4y ago
#upvotes !~ effort put into comment Absolutely true in the strictest sense. I've posted very detailed, well researched, citation filled comments in response to questions from people, and gotten absolutely zero upvotes before. OTOH, I've posted borderline flamebait comments that consisted of something like "Fuck the NSA" or whatever, and gotten hundreds of upvotes. That said, I think that on balance higher quality / higher effort posts are more likely to garner upvotes. But it's definitely not a deterministic, linear correlation at all.
- noobermin 4y ago
  HN has many problems and groupthink like all online communities, but one thing that sets it apart is higher quality effort posts are actually rewarded here because people still are generally curious. It's not deterministic as you said, but there is a correlation. On every other platform save some (some) subreddits, effort posts are anti-correlated with karma. So on net HN is better. Is it the Lyceum, the height of learned, reasoned debate and intellectual curiosity? No, HN is definitely not an ideal but it is certainly better, on net compared with the alternatives, not that the alternatives are harsh competition.
cupofpython 4y ago
effort put into comment !~ value of comment to others

jandrese 4y ago

It should be noted that the author's maximially downvoted comment was one that didn't make any sense[1] so it does give another tip on what not to do. [1] Serving web sites off of a blockchain somehow.

Tomte 4y ago

> but getting one to front page does give you a lot of karma too, apparently. Don't overestimate that effect. I'd say a hundred or maybe two hundred is realistic, but quite often a front page submission only nets you a dozen. Of course there are outliers in the other direction, but 500 or more is a rare event. You need to keep in mind that karma is discounted, a story that displays n upvotes will add << n points to your account.