Seriously thoughtful What is "Karma" and How Does it Work?

[desertgrandma]

I think many here are confused about "karma" and what it does. Hopefully this will clear some things up.

"Karma" is just a way of saying "I approve" or "attaboy" or "Thanks for the help" or "Thanks for uploading that book!" or any other positive message.

First of all, when you register, you are automatically awarded 10 Karma points.

You are allowed to "give" a certain amount of Karma.

The more you post, the more Karma points you are allowed to give. This is done automatically.

To give karma, click on the "karma" button at the bottom of that persons post. A window will pop up and say:

"Your comments on this Post" Here is where you can tell the person why you are giving them Karma. Not necessary, but helpful. We all want to know what we said to earn your approval!

Next, there is a box that says :

"Reduce (fine tune) you current reputation clout for this post"

There will be a number already in the box. You can choose to give the entire amount, or replace it with a lessor number. You cannot give more than what is shown.

Personally, I always give the maximum amount.....if a person is worthy of Karma, they are worthy of all I can give....but thats just me.

Now, click the 'add to reputation' button, and you are done.

To find out how much Karma you have, click your "User CP" button. See where it says "Latest Reputation Received"? To the right will show the current amount of Karma received by you.

Underneath will show the people who have given Karma, and the reasons, if they choose to say so.

If you've forgotten what the reason was,, click on the thread title.....it will take you to the post the person liked.

Clicking on that persons name will take you to their "visitor message" box......you can leave a "thank you" and anything else you'd like to say. Its always polite to thank people for giving you Karma, but not required.

I hope this has answered some questions, and if I've forgotten something, please let me know.

PS..........altho you may want to sometimes, you cannot give "minus Karma".

[poohbear_nc]

Very nice - I think you covered everything!

[Alexander Turcic]

This is a great introduction to the Karma system, desertgrandma. Thank you!

For a more technical explanation, also check out Nat's How karma at MobileRead works.

[desertgrandma]

Thank you. This should make it easier for people to figure things out!