Muddybulldog

YSK: Lemmy DOES have a karma system

https://mylemmy.win/post/123346

YSK: Lemmy DOES have a karma system - MyLemmy.win

There’s some misinformation floating around regarding Lemmy not having a karma system. While many have discovered otherwise, this is for those who may not have. While it’s not exposed in the Lemmy default user interface, Lemmy does have a fully functional karma system and it is visible in third party clients such as WefWef and Memmy. Do with that what you will.

Jul 9, 2023 at 3:20pmWeb
Show threadchtkJul 9, 2023
I went the other way and configured Liftoff to not show scores anywhere. And to be honest my experience is all the better for it.
Show threadCandelestineJul 9, 2023
Thank you.
Show threadpeterpan520Jul 9, 2023
But you have to consider the difference to Reddit’s karma system. If you have a high-karma account on Reddit, your comment or post trends much higher. That’s not the case with Lemmy, as far as I know.
Show threadMuddybulldogJul 9, 2023
Interesting. I never would’ve considered that since I only sort by New. Can neither confirm nor deny because I can’t read Rust.
Show threadr00tyJul 9, 2023
I thought the best/top/hot were governed by upvotes/downvotes on that specific post. Not the user's Karma.
Show threadDocMcStuffinJul 9, 2023
Correct. There is no karma factor. There is a time factor that causes a post’s/comment’s rank to decay. The devs have documented their algorithm.
Ranking Algorithm

Show threadHubiJul 9, 2023
I’m pretty sure that’s not true. I had 320k+ Karma on reddit when the admins banned me for participating in the protests and I regularly posted things that got very few upvotes.
Show threadsubstillJul 9, 2023
Yeah that’s definitely not the case. Karma is used to determine how frequently a user can post or comment, so that bot created accounts are limited from instantly flooding a subreddit or comment thread. It isn’t visibility or automatic upvotes.
Show threadforksandspoonsJul 9, 2023
Is this something thats actually in the reddit ranking system. I.e reddit will activly push posts/comments from high karma accounts higher? Or just that high karma accounts tend to get more upvotes, etc ?
Show threadSimpleDevJul 9, 2023
No, it’s not a real thing, I’m not sure why the commenter said that.
Show threadsomeguy3Jul 9, 2023
Really?
Show threadSimpleDevJul 9, 2023
That isn’t a thing, I dislike Reddit as well but we shouldn’t start making false statements about them.
Show thread██████████Jul 9, 2023
Here I see a new comment right above the top comment which is great because everyone has their comment up top at first. This might be a jerboa thing tho
Show thread𝕽𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖊𝖘𝖙Jul 9, 2023

Sweet

Show threadsomeguy3Jul 9, 2023
Nice.
Show threadFartsWithAnAccentJul 9, 2023
I think I will do nothing with that information.
Show threadMuddybulldogJul 9, 2023
Fantastic!
Show thread70msJul 9, 2023
Upvoted for visibility! 🤪
Show thread🇸‌🇵‌🇪‌🇨‌🇺‌🇱‌🇦‌🇹‌🇪‌🇷‌Jul 9, 2023
You have over 2000 points! Nice work bean!
Show threadFartsWithAnAccentJul 9, 2023
Holy shit, we can get beans for this?
Show thread🇸‌🇵‌🇪‌🇨‌🇺‌🇱‌🇦‌🇹‌🇪‌🇷‌Jul 9, 2023
1 point = 2 beans, you will be a beautiful instrument of flatulence!
Show threadFartsWithAnAccentJul 9, 2023
I already am.
Show threadShortbusJul 10, 2023
Upbeans and downbeans…
Show threadLoudWaterHombreJul 10, 2023
You gained so much karma with that statement
Show threadFartsWithAnAccentJul 10, 2023
Can’t wait to spend it on food and other essential goods!
Show threadCevilia (they/she/…)Jul 9, 2023

I am extremely disappointed by this.

I thought we were free of such toxic things here.

Show threadChariotwheelJul 9, 2023
Not like forums without karma aren't toxic. I think karma has merits. The motivation of people to get the number go up can be both good and bad.
Show threadPh03n1x443Jul 9, 2023
Mine (on both 3rd party apps) are very inaccurate lol. I have a post with over 2k and it says my karma is 300
Show threadMuddybulldogJul 9, 2023
Apparently something in the 18.1 upgrades made a mess. I noticed someone providing a script to fix up the databases this morning: mylemmy.win/post/117634
Fixing per-user post and comment scores - MyLemmy.win

Sad that updating your Lemmy instance to 0.18.1 broke your post and comment scores? Here’s a small SQL script to fix them: MERGE INTO "person_aggregates" AS "d" USING (SELECT "m"."id" AS "person_id" , coalesce("p"."post_count", 0) AS "post_count" , coalesce("p"."post_score", 0) AS "post_score" , coalesce("c"."comment_count", 0) AS "comment_count" , coalesce("c"."comment_score", 0) AS "comment_score" FROM "person" AS "m" LEFT JOIN (SELECT "p"."creator_id" , count(distinct "p"."id") AS "post_count" , sum("l"."score") AS "post_score" FROM "post" AS "p" LEFT JOIN "post_like" AS "l" ON "l"."post_id" = "p"."id" WHERE NOT "p"."removed" AND NOT "p"."deleted" AND "l"."person_id" <> "p"."creator_id" GROUP BY "p"."creator_id") AS "p" ON "p"."creator_id" = "m"."id" LEFT JOIN (SELECT "c"."creator_id" , count(distinct "c"."id") AS "comment_count" , sum("l"."score") AS "comment_score" FROM "comment" AS "c" LEFT JOIN "comment_like" AS "l" ON "l"."comment_id" = "c"."id" WHERE NOT "c"."removed" AND NOT "c"."deleted" AND "l"."person_id" <> "c"."creator_id" GROUP BY "c"."creator_id") AS "c" ON "c"."creator_id" = "m"."id" ORDER BY "m"."id") AS "s" ON "s"."person_id" = "d"."person_id" WHEN MATCHED AND ("d"."post_count" <> "s"."post_count" OR "d"."post_score" <> "s"."post_score" OR "d"."comment_count" <> "s"."comment_count" OR "d"."comment_score" <> "s"."comment_score") THEN UPDATE SET "post_count" = "s"."post_count" , "post_score" = "s"."post_score" , "comment_count" = "s"."comment_count" , "comment_score" = "s"."comment_score"; As with all scripts that work directly on the PostgreSQL database: warranty void when connected, your kilometrage may vary, do not look into laser with remaining eye, etc. Edit: don’t count self-votes.

Show threadPh03n1x443Jul 9, 2023
Awesome, thanks for the news! Hopefully it’ll be fixed in the next update/by my instance admin
Show thread𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆Jul 9, 2023
I can only speculate, but the number may relate to when the number was fetched or the numbers from a single instance. I know the instances are independent, but rely on a number of bot like “helpers” to pass information between federated instances. I saw an issue come up when .world was scaling and the conversation went into the need to allocate more of these “helpers.” The way the instance is configured to update these stats probably has an impact on what you see in an app.
Show threadbeatlepusJul 9, 2023
Ohhh that’s too bad! Isn’t it?
/s
Show threadwmrchJul 9, 2023
You just wanted to show off your post score, didn’t you?
Show threadr00tyJul 9, 2023
And just to make things weirder. On kbin we have up and downvotes. But it seems only upvotes come in from other platforms. I never see a post or comment with a downvote here.
Show threadLemmyLeftyJul 9, 2023

With Reddit, though, some subreddits required a minimum amount of karma to post, whereas if you have access to an instance you can post freely.

So it’s more a user rating of “this was good/how have you survived until this point” than a gatekeeping device: you, as a poster, can freely ignore your points and the points of others if you don’t care.

Show threadAFK BRB ChocolateJul 9, 2023
Plus, at least in the web interface, there no cumulative total of karma for an account, just on individual posts and comments.
Show threadteacostsJul 9, 2023
One thing I love about the fediverse is I dont have to give a fuck about karma
Show threadirkliJul 9, 2023
WE WILL MONITOR YOU FOR YOU.
Show threadgdbjrJul 9, 2023
Welcome to Lemmy where everything is made up and the Karma doesn’t matter.
Show threadMuddybulldogJul 9, 2023
Well said.
Show threadSticky FediJul 9, 2023
Thus the tradition was carried over from the dark place. Go back? Namaste.
Show threadColonel SandersJul 10, 2023
That’s right, the karma is just like the salad bar at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet
Show threadsomnuzJul 11, 2023
Whose line was it… can’t remember! Anyway…
Show threadPoobJul 9, 2023

Upvotes are useful for determining what people like and dislike so you can sort posts and comments

Account karma is for narcissists to masturbate about how loved they are

Show threadWats0nsJul 9, 2023
Hey I’m already tracking my karma, no need to convince me !
Show threadveroxiiJul 9, 2023
Don’t threaten me with a good time!
Show threadglibg10bJul 10, 2023

Upvotes are useful for determining what people like and dislike so you can sort posts and comments

> Things people like get more upvotes
> Upvotes give you karma
> Therefore posting things people like gives you more karma

Show threadc0c0c0Jul 10, 2023

Not sure if this was an argument for karma, but it sounds like an argument for avoiding contraversy and trying to fit in This is why everyone on Reddit appears to have the same opinion. I much prefer a diversity of opinions, and no penalty for speaking one’s mind (while treating each other with decency).

Karma makes sense, in theory, but in practice, it just punishes anyone who diverges from the herd.

Show threadglibg10bJul 10, 2023

it just punishes anyone who diverges from the herd

So you’re saying people get less karma for posts that diverge from the herd. That can only mean those posts get fewer upvotes, which means they rank lower

In other words, the sort-by-votes system makes uncontroversial posts more likely to be seen, while the karma system makes those same posts more likely to exist. My point, therefore, is that both systems have a similar overall effect on the website, and that the result of their conjunction is only that the effect is amplified

Show threadc0c0c0Jul 10, 2023
Agreed. As others have pointed out, voting helps to elevate higher quality posts (even if it doesn’t always work that way), but karma takes that imperfect process to its ridiculous extreme.
Show threadPoobJul 10, 2023
My biggest problem with karma is that it bakes in a reason for bots to repost everyone else’s posts. It also encourages people to sell their high karma accounts (god knows why someone would want to buy one)
Show threadPoobJul 10, 2023
And?
Show threadSuddenDownpourJul 10, 2023
Can confirm, am narcissist
Show threadAurenkinJul 10, 2023
Haha yeah. Now let’s see Paul Allen’s karma…
Show threadredcalciumJul 9, 2023
Are you telling me I wasted my time manually tallying up my karma with calculator to track my karma-whoring activity?
Show threadAlecSadlerJul 9, 2023
Total points comes back from an endpoint, so if you hit that endpoint it tallies it for you.
Show threadIgnacioJul 9, 2023
Does that karma allows me to buy NFTs, then reselling them for double the price I paid, then create bots to karma farming, being called a karma whore by jealous people, growing my evil power, becoming the CEO of Lemmy, put ads, charge for the API so my official app is the only one allowed to work and talking to shareholders? If it doesn't allow me to do that, then there's no karma 😝
Show threadUsername02Jul 9, 2023
Karma is about which faction will turn hostile to you.
Show threadirkliJul 9, 2023
Tell me more, so I can love you or hate you.
Show threadUsername02Jul 10, 2023
Unlike other Bethesda games, In Fallout New Vegas there’s a karma system that tracks your reputation among various factions, you can help and have good karma with one group of people and consequently worsen your reputation among other opposing factions.