I am getting a little annoyed, well, as annoyed as I can get from something on the internet.

This whole giving karma just so certain people can reach a certain number or to beat each other is highly annoying and kind of distracting to other truly karma worthy posts.

I also noticed someone copying and pasting the same comment for karma for at least ten posts, making it clear it was just for the purpose of the receiver to get to a certain number (not for the content of the post in question).

I think this is defeating the purpose of karma comments, honestly, as well as karma in general.

I am sure this is not going to be a popular post but I felt like it was truly getting out of hand. I thought you had to earn karma.

You are technically right, but you know, the scenario in question is one-of-a-kind and I think allowances can be made. It's very nice that the community can rally round someone and give some good cheer and help them reach such a unique distinction on ddn.

Edit: Besides, it was only a matter of time and she would have earned it on her own anyway.

I kind of agree that it's all in good fun, but I know what you mean. I'm kind of surprised the karma train posts didn't get shut down because don't we have to give reasons for giving karma now because of karma abuse? But it's good to see that DDN doesn't shut down all the fun all the time.

*does the "I don't got no idea what you're talking about, boss" whistle and innocent Shrek-cat eyes*

Speaking in a non official manner, I, myself, personally speaking, think that because there are so many hard and fast rules we so enforce and since there are more posts regarding to issues/problems/serious discussions that a little light heartness and humor is nice. I'd estimate that even if we went through and deleted karma from karma threads people would still have a ton of karma. The silly reason karma is far our weighed by legitimate karma. I don't think its a big deal. Plus these threads are an aside from real threads. It's not like this happening within a serious discussion.

I agree, majere, the threads don't sit terribly well with me, either. Would it be possible to have a "Karma Campaign Thread" where all arguments on who should get Karma and why are condensed?

For the most part I ignore the "fight for 1st place" threads, so it's not a huge issue for me, but I do agree with the general sentiment in the original post.

Yeah, I've had to think of it as two different types of karma - the 'karma for the sake of karma' campaigns, and then the karma that is earned for a truly funny, helpful, or insightful post. I'm happy with the way I've earned my karma, and I think that's all that matters.

We try not to run the site with Nazi like scrutiny. There is a difference between karma abuse and merely having a good joke in my opinion. If you are tired of the threads...don't read them or post something else that will get more attention and it will go away much quicker.

We allowed the "Christmas Karma", and 12 days of karma which technically would be karma abuse too, but again...I don't think it's necessarily karma abuse or throwing off the balance of karma in the DDN universe.

Generally speaking, I don't think there is enough karma given to many posts. Some people just don't think of it and others, frankly, are kind of stingy with theirs.

Some of the most fun days on DDN have been virtual karma fests. It may make us all seem like Pavlov's dogs, salivating at karma, but it does keep everyone attentive, participating, and happy. What's the harm?

Keep On Dancing*

I come here more than other forums because it is heavily moderated.

This is reminding me of a different forum a few years back (I still lurk, there) and they had "reputation" it's the same thing as karma. We went through a huge fuss over "rep whores." Almost the exact same thing happened.

I do get that this was meant to be "in good fun." It's the blatant "this is so you reach such-and such goal." Posting things with the sole purpose of getting karma.

When I receive karma it makes me happy and it is so rare that when I do it makes me feel like I did something right for a change (usually I feel like people ignore my posts or talk down to me when I ask things). I'll admit if it wasn't for the karma train I'd have at least ten less karma than I do now. However, I tried to only post on there is something interesting had happened and the last post was one I wanted to karmatize.

We allowed the "Christmas Karma", and 12 days of karma which technically would be karma abuse too, but again...I don't think it's necessarily karma abuse or throwing off the balance of karma in the DDN universe.

But y'all made providing a reason mandatory because you wanted to make sure karma was being given for a valid reason. Y'all have deleted tons of karma in the past because you didn't think the provided reason was valid. So I can understand why people are confused. Your enforcement of the karma policy seems arbitrary at best. And if you're not going to enforce the policy, can we just get rid of the mandatory reason?

I mean, let's be honest here. The reason Louise got all that karma had nothing to do with her reaching 5000. It was punishment for my posting that thread in the general forum. And I thought that was exactly the sort of abuse that requiring a mandatory reason was supposed to prevent. Honestly, I don't care either way. Every time I make a stupid post about karma, DDN's coven of dried-up old hags gives a ton of karma to whoever is above me on the list. It happens every time, so if I actually cared about my ranking, I would just stop making those posts. But I too am confused about when you all are going to enforce the karma policy and when you're not. If it's completely arbitrary, what's the point?

Meh, both panic and Louise earned the first 4,000 fair and square (well, Weezy at least )... to me, once you've gotten the spinny moon at 1,000 it really doesn't matter why the heck you're getting more. You're obviously awesome and a helpful poster in your own right at that point. I could get 100 karma for a stupid post and most people wouldn't even notice since my moon already spins.

It's all in good fun. I karma people who are snarky sometimes just because I think their retort is freakin' hysterical. I karma jokes. I karma insightful info. I karma facts. Why not allow me to karma those same things just to annoy panic? LOL.

You're obviously awesome and a helpful poster

No one gives karma to helpful posters. Here's a helpful poster:

Are you going to give that karma? I think not.


ps - looks like someone stole the toilet from #7

panic wrote:

ps - looks like someone stole the toilet from #7

Hey, they left the tank portion at least.

Edit: actually that is probably a bad thing, I bet that place is flooding by now.

the scenario in question is one-of-a-kind

No....it's not. There is always some sort of "get your karma here!" post on General. I don't care all that much, but I do find it a little juvenile.

^I was referring to the fact that it's a first for ddn for someone to have reached 5000. That's pretty special.

You, like the missing toilet bowl from #7, are full of crap. You weren't being be nice to Louise; you were being a douchebag to me. In my thread, everyone explains that they're giving louise karma in retaliation for what I posted. We can also look at the timestamps to see when you harpies executed this very well-organized operation. As I've said, I don't care either way about the karma. The only reason I enjoy it is because it makes DDN's menopausal women act like jealous 12-year-olds - and that's always good for a laugh. But saying you did it to celebrate Louise getting to 5000 just makes you look like a big fat liar.

I haven't give her any karma anywhere relating to 5000. And I didn't even post on your thread.

Irrelevant. You still know what's going on, and you're feigning ignorance. Actually, you're purposefully misleading the conversation. You know damn well this wasn't about getting louise to 5000, so stop bringing it up.

But y'all made providing a reason mandatory because you wanted to make sure karma was being given for a valid reason. Y'all have deleted tons of karma in the past because you didn't think the provided reason was valid. So I can understand why people are confused. Your enforcement of the karma policy seems arbitrary at best. And if you're not going to enforce the policy, can we just get rid of the mandatory reason?

We really try not to focus our time on figuring out if karma is valid. There was a time when karma abuse was rampant. It isn't that way anymore. The feedback we've gotten for providing a mandatory reason outweighs the reasons to get rid of it. People like knowing why they got karma, it USUALLY promotes more positive and loving connections.

If karma doesn't matter to some of you then stop giving it so you don't have to give mandatory reasons and stop asking for it. Simple as that.

Karma is something that is supposed to be a fun light hearted thing, it is something that makes the site unique, and I'd really hate to see that go away over some of the bickering in this thread.

I usually post once on those "get your karma" posts and no more then that. I also try and give out all my karma when I do post on those posts, so it kind of goes around you know?

I went to look at my karma count, and I would say maybe 5-8 of my karma came from those posts. I honestly think that while those posts play a small part, the majority of people would have gotten the karma count anyways on their own.

PS. How come the spiny moon doesn't change at 5000?! Dude make it a glittery, sparkly, "KA BOOM" kind of moon!

*headdesk*

Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:48 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Panic attack Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:47 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Attack Panic Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:47 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Goodbye forever DDN! Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:46 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Things that are 'normal', that you find weird Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:46 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Your thoughts on the "Occupy" movement Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:46 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Santa visits Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:45 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Who is the "other woman" in this picture? Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:44 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: What do CLRG and TCRG stand for? Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:44 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Congratulations To Our Louise! Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:43 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Senior Retired Champion Dancers for Judges? What do you think/how would it work? Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:43 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Sacrificing a life for a dream job... Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:43 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Irish Dance is s*t*u*n*n*i*n*g Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:42 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Favourite Christmas song? Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:41 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Writing for older kids? Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:41 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Irish Dance is s*t*u*n*n*i*n*g Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:41 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 12 Days of Karma Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:40 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Only went and got married, didn't I?! Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:40 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 re: Only went and got married, didn't I?! Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:39 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Mrs Stanley Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:39 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Kindness of strangers Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:38 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Has a DDN debate ever made you change your opinions? Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:38 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Irish dance memories Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:37 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 Don't waste time learning from your mistakes. Learn from mine instead... Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:36 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...
1 From the Australian Tourist Board Sat Jan 14, 2012 01:31 PM ZandBPremium member Great post, you'll reach 5,000 in no time...

This is my point. THIS is what I was talking about. Copied from Lousies recent karma.