Should karma remain on the forum?

[Canon Rumors]

A lot of issues have come up recently that seem rooted in karma. So I'll let everyone decide in a democratic fashion on whether to keep it around or not.


Cheers
CR

[wickidwombat]

Karma is good, it generally keeps the tone civilised I think there is probably a bit of vengeful smiting but i think i applaud more often if i find a post particularly helpfull or brings some good information out

[distant.star]

I voted.

And now I feel dirty!

I'll be back after I take a shower.

[AG]

Maybe you could refine the options a bit more.

Which kind of Karma should remain.

Positive only
No Karma at all
Just leave it alone
Whats Karma?

The reason i say this is i voted no, BUT i still agree with the Positive Karma idea.

So if it was a choice out of keeping it the way it is atm or not at all then i would say not at all. If on the other hand other options were put out there such as the ones above then that may give a more honest and overall opinion of the subject.

[D_Rochat]

Even though I think the Karma system is a little silly, I don't think it really matters if it stays or goes. I think people realize that having a boat load of bad karma means nothing at all. There are a lot of people that have quite a bit of knowledge on photography, give a lot of helpful feed back and happen to have a lot of bad karma.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I'd like to suggest the advanced reputation system, or one that shows only positive Karma.  There is a mod that works that way.  That would, at least eliminate the negative aspect that can be abused. 

[unfocused]

Karma is good, it generally keeps the tone civilised I think there is probably a bit of vengeful smiting but i think i applaud more often if i find a post particularly helpfull or brings some good information out

I agree. I've noticed that some participants behave a bit more civilly after receiving some bad Karma. It reduces the number of nasty drive-by comments. No one takes it too seriously, but it's not useless either.

[Minnesota Nice]

Honestly it doesn't matter in my opinion, some people might take it too seriously which can cause issues, but I don't mind having it.

[Hillsilly]

Keep it.  The only people who get bad karma are those who doubt Canon's superiority in every field.  I've even seen some people suggest that Canon could do some things better.   Recently, there was even somebody complaining about noise on a 7D!!  We need a way to identify such fifth columnists! 

[wickidwombat]

Keep it.  The only people who get bad karma are those who doubt Canon's superiority in every field.  I've even seen some people suggest that Canon could do some things better.   Recently, there was even somebody complaining about noise on a 7D!!  We need a way to identify such fifth columnists!

ROFL +1 Karma for giving me a good laugh!

[bobthebrick]

I agree with several of the other posters here; I voted no, but I would like a positive only sort of thing. I think there's a few too many 'karma wars', and that most of the smiting seems to occur because people are of a different opinion, as opposed to being rude or what not. So I think negative karma is completely irrevelant, but positive karma is important.

Thomas

[D_Rochat]

-1 Karma for my last post! 

There's another forum I go to quite often and they ran into the same scenario with the karma system. I'll just post their announcement so you can see.

"Since the inception of FroKnowsPhoto it has been the philosophy and mission of this site to create a positive place to learn and grow in photography. Jared has stated this more than once in both his articles and videos.

More and more over the past several months it has come to both Jared’s and mine attention that the use of “karma” on the forum is being used as a punitive weapon for a number of reasons on the forum. The problem has escalated especially towards newer members, that this use of karma as a weapon is chasing posters from the forum and the site. Complaints regarding negative karma now account for over 20% of our private messages. These complaints are taken seriously, and require us to look into the posting history of each complainant, and for the most part has been found unwarranted and requiring us to correct and reset the karma score. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing who the offender(s) of this misuse are, since the system gives total anonymity to the offender(s).

In order to keep this forum as a positive place to discuss photography and to learn and grow, Jared and I have decided that effective immediately karma will no longer be available in your private and public profiles, and the option to award karma is now permanently discontinued. If you like a poster and what they have posted, then you may use the “thank you” button below their post. If you have a disagreement with something posted, you will now have to post a response in a civil and polite manner.

Jared, myself, along with the moderation team strive to keep this forum within its mission as a positive place to learn and grow in your photography, and we strive to make sure our membership is encouraged to help others grow in a positive way."


I think they make a valid point about discouraging new users with bad karma and I think the argument that karma keeps some people in check is valid as well, but what's more important? The "thank you" button might be something to consider if you do any changes.

[Sunnystate]

For those that like to keep only applaud karma, I suggest that it should be expanded also in to different categories:
"attaboy"
"pat on the back"
"aaaw"
"you are amazing"
"splendid"
and some other favorite compliments that please us the most and we all can suggest...
 

[squarebox]

i too am for a positive only karma system.

[Sunnystate]

+1 distant.star

Why do, I feel like some really ambitious and serious "personalities" are opening false accounts to give them self applauds....