You're confusing a single conversation with the ongoing presence on the forum. Karma is an imperfect but effective way of assessing a user's position within the

You're confusing a single conversation with the ongoing presence on the forum. Karma is an imperfect but effective way of assessing a user's position within the community based on her/his previous actions and reactions. It can be looked at as a substitute to an auditory/visual first impression in the "real" world.