Karma = Carrot
Some of the people I work with would say I may have a slightly competitive nature. Some of the people in my personal life would likely agree with them. I concede that I have a bit of a competitive streak, but am confident that I’m not one of those competitive personalities who makes everything into a “I MUST WIN” event (and when I do, it’s more for the comedy of it). I don’t get angry if I don’t win, I don’t sulk, and I’m genuinely happy for others when they win. Perhaps silently I’m kicking myself for not pushing myself a bit harder, but on the outside I don’t think most people would know that.
So what does this phych profile have to do with technology? Karma.
In the new social networking site, Plurk, users are given a Karma score. The Karma score is somewhat of a barometer for participation on the network. Users gain Karma points for each quality post they publish, credit for commenting on others’ plurks, recruiting fans and friends, and even for attaching an image to their profile. Although the exact “dark magic” behind the karma score is invisible, it’s interesting to me that all of the items users are evaluated on are things that could easily be incorporated into a rubric for being a participant in a social network.
I have tried in the past to be a better participant in communities like Twitter, but I never felt I was getting out of it what I put into it. Granted, I didn’t spend much time putting in, but I’ve found that my competitive spirit wants to see that Karma score rising. To me, it’s validation that someone (albiet that someone is a computer program) is measuring my progress. In a way, I’ve become the carrot-lured horse drawing the cart and I just keep moving forward. I don’t feel like my Karma score needs to be any higher than anyone else’s, but when I see my Karma score decline a bit, it’s an indication that I’m not doing something right and I become more thoughtful about what I’m giving back to the community.
My participation in Plurk has not been entirely motivated by my Karma, though. I’ve found the ease of keeping track of various conversations has been the best benefit. I’m also extremely grateful that there is a quality Twitter alternative. My colleagues Rick Weinberg and Mark Carls can tell you I had a not-so-nice nickname for Twitter, and now that we’ve all converted I’m quite pleased (as long as my Karma keeps rising!).
July 8th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I would personally vouch for Tim’s ’somewhat’ competitive spirit, but it is in a good and sometimes joking way. Of course, against me, you always WIN!
It is nice to have that carrot of Karma dangled in front of you, I haven’t cared too much, but after a night like last night where I made many Plurks, I checked first thing to see how much my Karma had gone up……Oh yeah, did I say I’ve NEVER won?…….because I’m winning right now on Karma!
Your last paragraph though is why I like Plurk. The ability to follow conversations because they are clustered together. This gets away from the linear form of Twitter, where, if someone didn’t reply (@mcarls) to me, I would go back page after page to see what I missed in conversations that are scattered throughout. Plurk has my vote and my Twitter network thus far is also making the move over.
Another great blog post.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Competitive? YOU? Certainly you don’t mean that someone who happens to be driving a lead car, considers themselves winning, as competitive… I’m sorry to say that my Plurking is getting off to a slow start. It was blocked at my school, and my internet was down off and on over the weekend. I did deliver some Karma to Mr. Carls by responding to his plurk plead and not yours. His was first and fair is fair – he won by being first. I do hope your competitive nature remains as even tempered as it is now…at least how you display it to the world.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I’m actually laughing at Cindy and Mark’s comments right now. Funny. Somehow I knew I’d provoke a response.
Mark, there are two things I wish Plurk had:
1. Aggregator for @tclarkeee posts… like an inbox.
2. A way to mark plurk conversations as favorites.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Tim…If Plurk has done just one thing, get you to blog again then I am sold too. I must say that I do like how the conversations are “nested” so that I can check out what was said and what somewhat valuable information was added to the conversation. I am sure I will get more value out of the conversation if I ask more insightful questions or make more intelligent plurks. I am just on the cusp of plurk, once and a while sticking my toes into the pool. I have not gone in much farther at this point.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I’m really appreciating how I can “surf” Plurk more efficiently than attempting to surf Twitter. You know I had not-so-nice names for Twitter. It frustrated me more than anything.
Plurk is well-organized and appeals to my Felix-like tendencies.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
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Some of the people I work with would say I may have a slightly competitive nature. Some of the peop [...]…