It is a metric similar to a "like" on YouTube or Instagram or something. Github does more than just "rent space for git repos". It does do that, but there are

It is a metric similar to a "like" on YouTube or Instagram or something. Github does more than just "rent space for git repos". It does do that, but there are two sides of GitHub. There is the legit CI/CD Git platform side, and then there is a social network of code side. The stars are a mechanism that contribute to the social network side of github. There are basically three metrics on GitHub: 1. Stars - Akin to "likes" on other platforms, or favorites, or hearts. They represent a thumbsup, or a soft-bookmark to find a project later. Indicates appreciation or interest in a repo/project. These are the most common form of karma or metric on Github 2. Watch - This is like following a specific repo. You can get updates when a new release is made, pull requests are made, issues are submitted, etc.. It expresses deeper interest in a project/repo because you want to see updates as they happen. 3. Follows - These happen at the account level. So you can follow an entire organization or developer and see everything they do. This is like subscribing to someone on YouTube or following them on Instagram. You want to see more projects and updates for them in your feed. All these metrics combine into an internal "SEO" on GitHub search (and Google search). So stars actually do tangibly contribute to the likelihood of a project being discovered by strangers. Which is what gives them value. The author also points out that having a lot of stars is often perceived as being more trustworthy of a project. This is an intangible benefit that the author was expressing he wanted to test. However, as the author stated, this is a bad metric in practice, but it doesn't mean that other people don't perceive it that way. Similar to a twitter account with a 100,000 followers, you will assume is more noteworthy/trustworthy/prominent than someone with 1,000 followers. This is not necessarily the case, which is similar to how it works on github as well. It is often perceived this way, although it shouldn't be.