Reddit.com is a social news site in which users, known as Redditors, can post questions, opinions, user generated content, and links relevant to the interests of the users. [1] Redditors then can “Upvote” or “Downvote” the submission to make then it move toward the front page, the most frequented part of the site. The user who submits the post also receives one point of “Karma” for the each of the Upvotes the post receives, and a negative point of Karma for each Downvote. Karma is amassed in each user’s profile, showing “how much good the user has done for the Reddit community.” [2] The sense of community plays a large role on allowing in the actions of Redditors to act charitably and use Reddit as a place to cultivate gains social capital.
Structure
Reddit is comprised of hundreds of sub-Reddits, each narrowly focused on a specific topic. Some large Reddits include ‘world news’, ‘pictures’, and ‘funny’, which are displayed on the front page for all new users. Local Reddits also exist for many major universities and cities around the world, allowing users to schedule and generate interest in meetups.
Karma System
The Karma system acts as a cumulative recommender system in which users receive points, or Karma, for their input to the site. One positive point of Karma is given for each Upvote received, and one negative point is given for each Downvote. A user’s Karma score is displayed in their profile page, separated into two categories, comments and submissions.
Controversy
Some users believe the Karma system causes problems from people who post or comment in agreement with the majority opinions on the site purely for the purpose of acquiring Karma. According to a comment from a user who has since deleted their account, “Reddit is corrupt, karma invalidates valid opinions in lieu of popularity, in this sense reddit is a celebration of lowest common denominator thought pieces.” [3] Another concern with this points system is the existence of users who “repost” material to gain Karma. Reposting is a problem in an environment like Reddit, because it causes content to be recycled and prevents new content from reaching the front page. Some users believe that Reddit would have better and more original content if the Karma system were removed.
References
- ↑ http://www.reddit.com
- ↑ Reddit Help: Frequently Asked Questions. (n.d.).Retrieved from: http://www.reddit.com/help/faq
- ↑ Anonymous. (07/2011). Reddit.com: "I love Reddit to death, but sometimes I think Reddit would be better off if it just eliminated accumulation of karma for users". Retrieved from http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/irb53/i_love_reddit_to_death_but_sometimes_i_think/.
