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Well as we all know a hectic part of many websites is the ability to vote up or down a user's comments and posts, what could they mean other than the obvious agree/disagree with a user's posted context or attitude?

For me, I of course find the upvotes in my image/article commentary to be huuuuge ego boosts.
For the downvotes, I will almost always comment on them, because I think it's hilarious.

When someone upvotes or downvotes you on the certain kinds of posts you make, what interesting thoughts go through your mind?

This just in: Karma is apparently a big deal after all.

Well, when I get upvotes for a post or comment that references something I'd be surprised to find other people on this site knew, I'd actively ask who it was who upvoted, and why.

I don't know…
When I was first here (2years ago) I made a bad first impression
Certain people hated me, and would down vote anything I said. At first, we were are the posikarma system: it only showed how many up votes you received. I finally cracked 100…
And the net karma system was implemented, and I was instantly at negative 120. At that point, I committed suicide stopped caring.
Now my karma has gone back up due to the beautiful people who reside here.

I don't really pay much attention to karma and rarely upvote/downvote comments. Although, I will admit to enjoying it when I get Top Comment on a picture.

I upvoted this, you get no sexual pleasure from me. NO ONE gets sexual pleasure from me! MUWAHAHAHAHA…….sob

I try to maintain a policy where I upvote people who post highly constructive content/contributions So when I see people make an excellent example of a quality, well constructed post or post well done creative content, I try to reward them. Based on this policy I will even upvote an argument made against me if it was really well constructed and makes a fair point

I reserve downvotes only for shitposts of the lowest kinds. I won't downvote people I feel are being stupid or wrong or because I just don't like them.

I will however, absolutely downvote shitty posts like ultra-long spam posts full of nothing. I discourage that

But it's still really hard to resist the urge to upvote someone just because I really liked what they posted or downvote somebody because I really didn't. At the end of the day, upvotes/downvotes always seem to boil down to like/dislike no matter where you are

It's for that reason that it's also hard to not care about karma. Your karma count generally means that many of your posts are appreciated. It's nice to feel that way. So when people go around and mass downvote everybody in entire threads simply because they didn't like the thread title (or just to be a dick), I can't help but wish those people burned in hell.

The only reason I even bother with karma is to ensure good posts stay in view and bad posts get buried. I'm doing my part to keep the forums clean. I consider it nothing more than a tool.

I guess I will just assemble a list. I will upvote if:

1. A strong argument is made, regardless of side I agree on.
2. Original Content was made, especially artwork. If it's impressive I try to upvote multiple times but that doesn't work.
3. Something I found personally amusing.

I will downvote if:

1. Somebody is being disrespectful. I really wish people would take Rule Number 6 to heart a bit more often to avoid being a dick.
2. Ignoring the rules, though I will avoid giving negative karma to things I know are going to get deleted by the mods.

I just go to the worst post I can find and upvote it because I can.

ITT: no one admits to being a rampaging downvoting dick

I'm pretty sure some of us have gone on that rampage before, I know I have long ass time ago

I really don't mind when my karma goes up, unless it reaches huge milestones, like if it reaches 100, 200, etc. but if it goes down, I die a little inside.

karma system in a nutshell

I don't obsess over karma, but it's nice to see if I gain some karma or get upvotes on my comments.

dear mods:

you see this thread and the responses in it?

karma kinda matters

not in the sense that it really bothers us, but you see those 1 or 2 downvotes in each post in this thread? you should see if its the same 1 or 2 people doing that, and they probably deserve to have their voting rights revoked because those votes are totally uncalled for, seriously

For starters, that's a false claim, as checking the posts made in this thread will show you that there are still various posts who have zero downvotes. So it's not like someone randomly downvoted all posts just for the hell of it.

Second, perhaps there's a reason those got downvoted. Just because you disagree with a downvote, doesn't automatically mean they were based on butthurt and cannot be justified with good reason. I can see that my first post here has some traits of a shitpost, so of course by making it I risked downvotes.

Lastly, seriously, people need to drop that thought pattern of "These posts are flawless in my opinion, therefore all downvotes are obviously wrong". People also need to drop that ego which makes them believe they are incapable of making shitposts, and instead accept that the downvotes they received might've come with a reason and then learn to discover, accept and fix the mistake they made.

I see karma as a learning factor, and believe that people need to use it as an indicator of where they can improve their posting style by continuing on the posts that got them upvotes while avoiding the actions that got them downvotes.

Karma is a system inherently designed to attract your eye to the best posts and bury the worst. Your overall karma rating does not mean a thing, and obsessing over it and complaining about downvotes is just an invitation to receive more downvotes. Karma as a whole does not matter, and never has. (Another forum I frequent allows you to add or remove frags, their karma system, to your own posts as an old community joke, because karma doesn't matter at all. They also don't keep an overall karma tally on profiles.) If you have someone consistently downvoting your posts, ignore it instead of saying something about it, or improve the quality of your contributions. Not only is there no way for moderation to see who is downvoting posts, there is no reason for us to do anything about it, as we do not consider small-scale downvoting harassment – one person doesn't like you, big deal. Large scale, multiple user downvoting to intentionally bury posts could be considered harassment, but once again, we cannot see who it is downvoting. There has to be concrete evidence of harassment.

tl;dr karma is just a number, don't obsess over it. It doesn't matter and karma abuse is not high on moderation's priority list.

I like the Idea of a "pat on the back" upvote but the downvote is really nothing more than a troll.
People downvote for the stupidest reasons sometimes. "I don't like your opinion", "I don't find your humor funny", I don't think what you posted is appropriate", 'I just don't like you", and "you are a troll / a furry / a brony / etc. So I will downvote your post into oblivion".
Now I will not say that I have never given a deserved downvote or even trolled with downvotes myself. Because I have, but I read threads and see people downvoted for answering someone else's post and wonder…… why? Why the fuck did that post deserve a downvote? I think that in the photo galleries there should be an up and down vote system to see what macros are trending and whatnot but in these forums do we really need a downvote? I would rather see people talking about why they don't like X opinion and going back n forth with opinions, than see 3 posts on a subject with one post downvoted into oblivion.

If you reserve down votes for shitposts of the lowest kind, did you downvote RandomMan? His post was upvoted several times where SweatyKiller was downvoted. Why is that? SweatyKiller at least was trying to be funny. Random was just being an ass. This is still a site about memes and meme culture. Even though we have some serious discussions here in the forums, posting a meme to convey your feels, levity, etc. should be rewarded not discouraged. How many times have you seen a serious discussion were someone posted something so funny that you couldn't stop laughing and sidetracked the whole discussion? We have several entries from just that sort of thing happening. According to your logic, I don't like your opinion and I should downvote you. This site is more than a discussion board. Memes come from sites like 4chan, reddit, FB, etc. and sometimes there may be discussion about something you feel is shitposting, spam, full of nuthing that you feel strongly about. So just because someone puts together a good soliloquy shouldn't be an auto upvote on a site that is about lulz.

I haven't used the Upvote or Downvote buttons in about a year.
Guess I'm sober.

In other news, I'm leaning with one of the above posts. The Karma system is inherently broken on trying to be both a Reward and a Punishment system. If it only buried unpopular posts or promoted popular ones, it would be much more efficient. The idea of it being a curve system is wonderful and fantastic and amazing in theory, but it's been shown time and time again to not work in practice.

Whenever someone gives me a downvote, I cry for an hour… Yeah, that's where I've been all this time.

@Vaz

This is where >implying comes in handy

>I upvoted/downvoted anyone here
>RM shitposted
>Sweatie wasn't intentionally wanting to be downvoted
>I ever discouraged posting memes on a meme site
>I didn't just admit to upvoting posts I find purely enjoyable
>I didn't just claim that I don't downvote posts that I disagree with
>I ever in my history used this forum for pure discussion only
>Quality posting shouldn't be encouraged
>You read my post

Nice try, sweetcheeks. But it's pretty obvious what you are doing.

I'll answer each one without greentext

This is where >implying comes in handy
IMPLYING that I was IMPLYING to begin with. they where opinions not implications

>I upvoted/downvoted anyone here
didn't say you did or didn't I asked if you downvoted Random for shitposting

>RM shitposted
he did and does all the time. we all do nothing wrong with so called shitposting sometimes

>Sweatie wasn’t intentionally wanting to be downvoted
what SweatyKiller was expecting is speculation but even he himself says he contributes nothing to this site. but his threads are some of the funniest derails on KYM

>I ever discouraged posting memes on a meme site
I never said that you did I was just generalizing that we shouldn't by downvoting them

>I didn’t just admit to upvoting posts I find purely enjoyable
you said "I try to maintain a policy where I upvote people who post highly constructive content/contributions So when I see people make an excellent example of a quality, well constructed post or post well done creative content, I try to reward them"
Which is what I just did and you're calling it baiting. shows who is actually >IMPLYING

>I didn’t just claim that I don’t downvote posts that I disagree with
you said, "I reserve downvotes only for shitposts of the lowest kinds.
a shitpost is all in your interpretation. Random has said I do nothing but shitpost and I'm sure others think the same but others like what I post and I feel I bring a lot to this site and forum. so a shitpost is in the eye of the beholder and at what degree of shitposting you downvote for is of course up to you.

>I ever in my history used this forum for pure discussion only
again never said that

>Quality posting shouldn’t be encouraged
I said "just because someone puts together a good soliloquy shouldn’t be an auto upvote" because even a well thought out argument can be shit

>You read my post
I did

Nice try, sweetcheeks. But it’s pretty obvious what you are doing.

I made a lot of general remarks that aren't directed at you personally so for that sorry if you did take it personal. I wasn't attacking you nor was I trying to argue with you or bait anyone. Your comments are what a lot of people here (especially bronies) go by. You have long drawn out discussions back and forth that you guys will upvote and downvote for your opinions. Well everyone has an opinion and mine is that a downvote for an opinion or for replying to someones post is retarded.
And like I said in my previous post, downvotes are just used as a troll. Look at Jimmy's post did he need to get that many downvotes for a comment? and yet A Ring Pop gets upvoted for his pic of KYM masturbatory orgy? Randomman was the first to shitpost and he gets upvoted whereas in other general threads if you shitpost like that everyone calls it derailing the thread.
I can't say as to why people choose to upvote and/or downvote certain posts but I can sayI hate that this site even has a facebook system of approval / disapproval. I think we can be better than that.

@Vaz

I made a lot of general remarks that aren’t directed at you personally so for that sorry if you did take it personal. I wasn’t attacking you nor was I trying to argue with you or bait anyone.

By full-quoting me, you sounded like you were addressing me personally. And if you were, then you would be running off on a whole bunch of assumptions about what I just said which made no sense. That's why I thought you were baiting

If I just worded myself badly and didn't make myself clear, then I'll own that and admit it was my fault for mis-communicating. I apologize

But we misunderstand each other. Lets take this one step at a time.

If you reserve down votes for shitposts of the lowest kind, did you downvote RandomMan? His post was upvoted several times where SweatyKiller was downvoted. Why is that?

Randomman did not make a shitpost "of the lowest kind". I have criteria, which I did state.

"shitposts of the lowest kinds"

This does not include just any shitpost in general. I didn't elaborate on this because I figured that was self explanatory

"I will absolutely downvote shitty posts like ultra-long spam posts full of nothing. I discourage that'

Here I explain what a shitpost of the lowest kind is. Yes, ultra-long spam posts full of nothing is the type of post that I discourage because I hate having to scroll past plenty of nothing to get to something, or worse: have that ruin a good topic. And similarly other posts that are hateful, abusive, inflammatory or disruptive will get downvoted by me.

However such posts are quite rare here. And posts that you, Sweatie and RM make often don't fall under that criteria. I know you guys. You don't so much shitpost as you do just crack jokes and have fun.

We all shitpost here, me, you, everyone. I certainly can tell the difference between a shitpost that's all in good fun and others that are malevolent. I'd be a terrible mod if I couldn't. It's unnecessary on my part to regulate the harmless casual shitpost that doesn't disrupt the thread

But like you say, what defines a shitpost is subjective. I can say I disallow all shitposting, but only if I redefine shitposts as posts that don't have any redeeming value, not even lulz. When it comes to simply not being constructive, you already know I'm quite lenient and may not even consider that shitposting so long as you have a sense of humor about it.

Yes, I support constructive posts. No, I don't demand it, nor expect it

So to answer your question: why did RM get upvoted and Sweatie didn't? Well I'd say both posts equally have their wits. Though the difference is that Sweatie specifically stated that he enjoys being downvoted, sexually. And since we're all hot for Sweatie, I guess we just wanted to please him

Even though we have some serious discussions here in the forums, posting a meme to convey your feels, levity, etc. should be rewarded not discouraged.

I don't think anyone has said anything against them. Posts that don't do anything but express a reaction at least offer some kind of message that communicates where you stand on things. I wouldn't, and didn't consider them worthy of downvotes

According to your logic, I don’t like your opinion and I should downvote you.

If this wasn't directly aimed at me, then you shouldn't have full-quoted me. This is my logic:

"I upvote people who post highly constructive content/contributions"
"I will even upvote an argument made against me if it was really well constructed"
"I won’t downvote people I feel are being stupid or wrong or because I just don’t like them"

And now you understand why I wasn't sure if you read my post.

I make it clear that I do not downvote people over petty reasons and nobody should. And although I am not perfect and fail often; I at least make an attempt not to inject personal bias into my voting. This isn't so important when rating jokes and chatter, but it's something I'll codify when it comes to debate. Being civil on the internet absolutely means understanding that there will be opinions and idea's that you can disagree with, but no matter what; one should not be punishing people for expressing opinion. Attack the claim, not the person. This is something I have always believed since I came here and you can rest assured that nobody here ever got downvoted by me for simply stating their opinion.

So just because someone puts together a good soliloquy shouldn’t be an auto upvote on a site that is about lulz.

I'm not saying you should all do that. This is just my personal philosophy: reward good contributions. And I feel quite at liberty to reward people who I believe make constructive posts just like I feel at liberty to reward any that makes me laugh, or delivers. This is not too imply that those who don't fully contribute are not appreciated by me.

Also good contribution =/= soliloquy. A good contribution is a good contribution. A post that is accurate, truthful, answers the questions, offers solutions or presents results. It doesn't have to be a novel.

I woudn't upvote something just because it's well written. Even spambots can make really articulate posts

(character limit)

Which is what I just did and you’re calling it baiting. shows who is actually >IMPLYING

No offense, but if I confused your post for bait, then there seems to be a flaw in its construction

Well everyone has an opinion and mine is that a downvote for an opinion or for replying to someones post is retarded.

I agree with this. It's part of what I tried to say earlier.

downvotes are just used as a troll. Look at Jimmy’s post did he need to get that many downvotes for a comment

Yes, downvotes are used for trolling. But also other reasons. Some are more charged by emotion and politics as well as/rather than mischeif.

In Jimmy's case, no he probably didn't deserve all that. To be honest, I'm not sure how he offended so many people with his statement. Of course there's karma bombers in the pony thread. There's always karma bombers there. Nobody disagrees. Maybe he got downvoted for stating the obvious.

I do know that some people seem to like following Jimmy's posts and downvote every one he makes. Maybe someone has a grudge, I don't know. Not that Jimmy should care

yet A Ring Pop gets upvoted for his pic of KYM masturbatory orgy? Randomman was the first to shitpost and he gets upvoted whereas in other general threads if you shitpost like that everyone calls it derailing the thread.

Ring Pop has a clean reputation and you know how much reputation matters when it comes to karma. If people like you, they like what you post and are more willing to extend the benefit of the doubt to posts that you make, even if they wouldn't normally accept it.

Same goes for RM. Especially RM. RM practically has downvote immunity since he's so well respected. Then again, his sense of tact is good enough that he rarely says anything people would take exception towards in the first place.

I hate that this site even has a facebook system of approval / disapproval. I think we can be better than that.

You wouldn't be alone.

Well everyone has an opinion and mine is that a downvote for an opinion or for replying to someones post is retarded.

Same thought here. As I said in other threads, people are allowed to have an opinion and shouldn't be punished for this (unless they post it with the intention to either flame or cyberbully). I upvote well argumented opinions, even if they're not always something I agree with.

But does that mean that is the rule? Does that mean that is the correct guideline? Does that mean people shouldn't be allowed to use karma in that way?

The irony here is that you want people to be free to post their opinion, while at the same time you wish to remove their opinion on what they believe deserves up- or downvotes.

"You are allowed to have an opinion, except when it comes to your opinion with voting on the opinion of someone else, there you are disallowed to have an opinion."
-You

Look at Jimmy’s post did he need to get that many downvotes for a comment?

Perhaps not, but you are stating some sort of rule here that once someone reached a certain amount of downvotes, all others who wish to downvote that post no longer should be allowed to have that privelege.

If 10 people found that Jimmy's post was worthy of a downvote, then he will get 10 downvotes. If 10 people thought he deserved upvotes instead, then he would've gotten that. We are not to decide how other people hand out their votes on that regardless of how many votes a post already has. Sometimes you are fortunate in the amount of people that read your post and how they vote towards it, sometimes you aren't.

and yet A Ring Pop gets upvoted for his pic of KYM masturbatory orgy? Randomman was the first to shitpost and he gets upvoted whereas in other general threads if you shitpost like that everyone calls it derailing the thread.

Humor is a poweful tool. If a joke is received positively, and folks find it funny, they can upvote it if they want. You make both shitposts and funny posts all the time, like myself, so you should know this.

I can’t say as to why people choose to upvote and/or downvote certain posts but I can sayI hate that this site even has a facebook system of approval / disapproval. I think we can be better than that.

You wouldn’t be alone.

"I find myself superior to Facebook comments, therefore our comment upvotes are shit."

Also, the voting system is based on Youtube, not Facebook. It's a common voting style in comment sections to place thumbs at the bottom of the comments (as we just pointed out is the case with both Youtube and Facebook). KYM simply uses the common style of comment voting, so that people have a more natural feel with our comments due to some of the things they share with the popular sites and their comment sections.

Sure, the karma system is implanted to promote quality and keep bad posts away, so there is undoublty irony in everything I typed here.

But voting is a system build to focus on the voter's opinion. If they believe a post deserves an upvote/downvote, that's their opinion and choice. Because you believe they upvoted for a wrong reason, doesn't automatically mean you're some karma-guru who wrote a karmasutra with a widely accepted list on how to grant the ultimate pleasure through upvoting while also sharing how to really make someone submissive to your will through downvotes.

Upvoting can be based on quality, on humor, or on opinions. A funny post isn't automatically quality, a well argumented out opinion isn't always an ethically right one. There are different reasons for up- and downvoting for the different styles of posting.

And truly, if a voting or karma system was so fucking flawed, wouldn't it've been ditched a long time ago from any site imaginable?

I feel that the karma system on most sites is broken. Seen karma on here and many other places switch wildly for no reason, usually ive seen it go on stuff I can't even find where I posted that it went down or got neg karma.

I've had run ins with people who will instantly run and downvote all of my history of posts just cause I set them off, and most of the time it wasn't even warranted.

But I will say the only large site that karama was actually fairly constructive was the Lithium style boards. You can see who down or upvoted you, and when. Otherwise, one other site I frequent that is actually removed from the general public to see that particular board, is you get karma up or down, and it actually wants you to message the person as to why you did up or down. Don't have to, but it works. Or just troll them by saying lel or something. Whatever you want to do. But that site has a microscopic user base that is very active and very close, so messing with them isn't something I want to do, because I legitimately like all but like 2 of them.

Ways to earn downkrama

• Asking for upkarma
• Asking for downkarma
• Posting unpopular opinions
• Fail trolling
• Misspelling karma as krama
  lol, karma

Even more directed at Random's posts.

"I’ve had run ins with people who will instantly run and downvote all of my history of posts just cause I set them off, and most of the time it wasn’t even warranted."

Similar here. I once commented on a pic, mocking furries and fursecution, and eventually I come back, to see that they've been downvoted (some were warranted because I forgot to explain certain things), and after I removed the offending posts and apologized, the apologies get downvoted. Sure, what I said was somewhat offensive, and I may have forgot to explain why, but still. A few down votes and a post asking "how and why?" is rational, but getting your briefs in a huge twist over a post directed at a group other than your own isn't.
Sure, my posts were mean-spirited, but all that warrants is some downvotes and questioning, and that's it. Some people should just get over it and let it go.

Sounds promising to someone who just struck a nerve with some folks in the comments section of a picture in the cringeworthy photo gallery.

@Schabbs

There are some people who will just decide they don't like you and will downvote you for existing in the first place

When that happens, you know you really made someone mad (or because people are petty and vein). There's not a lot you can do but stop posting and come back later when people calm down.

If you continue responding to the downvotes, it can actually prompt them (and others) to downvote you more mainly because people don't like it when you create noise over your own karma

In short: Sometimes, the best response is to just stop posting

I will upvote someone if they are respectful for and have solid logic to back their statements.

I will downvote only when someone threats someone elses opinions or is just their comment is full of hate and disrespect.

I honestly will respect downvoters as long as they have a solid reason for doing so.
People who upvote me I respect equal to downvoters on the same reasons.

I have no karma and dont even know what karma is so nothing much to voice about that.

Sometimes I will stop arguing with someone if they stop being respectful to me.

I gave about 62 positive Karmas and -2 negative Kramas.

*kramer system in a nutshell

Lord, this thread started one heck of an argument. You'd expect some bickering in any karma-related thread, but this is the kind of result you usually only get from mentioning religion or politics.

I only get upvoted if I say something funny, which is very rarely on this site, so that little bit of validation is pretty nice. Most of the time I get downvoted, though, but usually these are on posts that I expect to get downvoted because of my political opinions, so not only am I not surprised that I got downvoted, but I know that whoever did downvote me doesn't share my opinion and decided to anonymously affect my post's standing as opposed to talking to me head-on, and therefore they're inconsequential to my attitude.

I must admit, sometimes i go on a karma bombing spree(though just on the forums).

Like this?

I downvote those posts who disagree with me, no matter how good their arguments are. You know, like many others. Then I go for trying to say something funny elsewhere to gather karma and then spend it by expressing my unpopular opinion elsewhere.