ehm, forgive my ignorance but how does one give karma? 
I believe one has to have a certain number of posts (5?) before they can give karma.
A number of us have decided to explicitly state when a smite or applaud is given to help understand the context and I find that quite helpful.
And as a side note, although I do not think the karma situation impacts it, this is one of the most civil forums that I have ever been a part of, so count me in on the group hug. :-) Every now and then I stop by nikonrumors and can barely stand to read thru the comments because the negativity and troll percentage; makes me appreciate what we have here.