Karma in Launchpad

[Andreas Lloyd]

On 7/21/06, Andreas Lloyd <lloydinho at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I took the time to dissect the Karma systems used on Slashdot, the GNOME
> Bugzilla and in Launchpad, respectively.

To stimulate discussion, I thought it might help to just post the
conclusion from the rather long blog post:

"... it doesn't even seem like the Karma system [in Launchpad] has a
solid purpose yet. From the specs it seems like it was designed to log
user activity. But since the user can't use the log to backtrack to
the actions they performed, it is not that helpful in that regard. In
the Malone, there is talk of using Karma as an incentive for people do
good work. But if they have trouble figuring out how the karma is
counted, and if the karma drops back to zero after a year, then that
is not a very good incentive.

The central focus of the Karma system should not simply be activity,
but trust. Launchpad will used by a lot of people, and their social
interactions are based on very few factors. Having social guide lines
such as Karma can help a lot. Both Slashdot and the GNOME Bugzilla
provide examples of how that can be done successfully."

Easy ways to implement this has been suggested:

Base the karma on logarithmic factors like the GNOME Bugzilla
[https://launchpad.net/products/launchpad/+bug/37305]

Displaying the karma next to the contributor's name on a bug report
[https://launchpad.net/products/malone/+bug/37307]

Use Karmic Activity Log as way to access your comments and bug reports
[https://launchpad.net/products/launchpad/+bug/6024]

Best regards,

Andreas