This would make more sense if reddit karma corresponded to respect. I post some really lengthy replies on reddit that take a lot of time to put together and are really helpful - these usually get 1 or 2 upvotes at best. I was slowly building comment karma and then I posted a 9gag link in a comment and tripled my karma overnight. It took 20 seconds to post.
And as far as the value of link karma - well look at the stuff that gets the highest votes on the site.
I'd have to lean towards reddit karma being meaningless/worthless/whatever you want to call it.
Say you're playing a video game, and trying to collect points. It makes a difference whether you play at the easy or expert level, because the points are not fungible, and are only a reflection of your performance rather than an objective measure.
If you care about what you are writing, whether it's genuinely helping someone, or it's trying to explain the counterpoint to some popular misconception on an issue, simply getting a positive score, or a score > -4 where it effectively disappears, could keep your effort from being a complete waste of time. And yet, even if you were all-knowing and all of the readers were misinformed, downvotes and upvotes still matter because they are an indicator of how well you made your point and how well it is being received.
In Anderson Cooper's case, does he follow his ratings exclusively for the ad revenue they facilitate, or is it rewarding to see how many viewers he is reaching? Furthermore, do the ratings numbers mean as much to him when they are a thousand households shown a personality during a daytime talk show and a thousand households shown an in depth story? I can see how both would be rewarding, even if they had no effect on his earnings whatsoever.
> What about the respect of your peers? Do you also find that completely meaningless?
Did you ever take a look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs? People evolve in different ways: For some, "respect of peers" is a need. It might well explain the demographics of reddit, for example.
"Meaning" is purely subjective idea. Meaning is an intellectual concept that has no physical analog. Things in the physical world don't have meaning. They just are. We, as in our minds, assign meaning to them. The electric current that makes up the Internet is a physical thing. Again, we give it meaning. Arguing about meaning is like arguing about art.
Yes.
> Is it meaningless when the team you root for wins a world championship?
Very much yes.
> Or when Time names you Person of the Year?
They already did, and boy was it meaningless.
> Why are those considered more meaningful than internet points?
Some people don't consider them more meaningful.
And if you're the raldi that I think you are: That thing you worked on might have been bigger than you gave it credit for.