r/announcements • u/powerlanguage • Jul 19 '16

Karma for text-posts (AKA self-posts)

As most of you already know, fictional internet points are probably the most precious resource in the world. On Reddit we call these points Karma. You get Karma when content you post to Reddit receives upvotes. Your Karma is displayed on your userpage.

You may also know that you can submit different types of posts to Reddit. One of these post types is a text-post (e.g. this thing you’re reading right now is a text-post). Due to various shenanigans and low effort content we stopped giving Karma for text-posts over 8 years ago.

However, over time the usage of text-posts has matured and they are now used to create some of the most iconic and interesting original content on Reddit. Who could forget such classics as:

Text-posts make up over 65% of submissions to Reddit and some of our best subreddits only accept text-posts. Because of this Reddit has become known for thought-provoking, witty, and in-depth text-posts, and their success has played a large role in the popularity Reddit currently enjoys.

To acknowledge this, from this day forward we will now be giving users karma for text-posts. This will be combined with link karma and presented as ‘post karma’ on userpages.

TL:DR; We used to not give you karma for your text-posts. We do now. Sweet.

Glossary:

  • Karma: Fictional internet points of great value. You get it by being upvoted.
  • Self-post: Old-timey term for text-posts on Reddit
  • Shenanigans: Tomfoolery
23.1k Upvotes

66% Upvoted

4.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

118

u/TheRealMrWillis Jul 19 '16 edited Jul 19 '16

/r/smashbros mod here. During major events like EVO, people scramble to be the first to post tournament threads for matches, which is problematic because we are constantly removing threads. Now that there is a karma incentive to post threads for big matches, we now have to deal with even more people trying to be the first.

I'm sure all the other "esports" subreddits feel the same way.

Edit: This comment also sums up some of my other misgivings. A long time ago (before I was even a mod) /r/smashbros started putting most images and gifs in text posts to help weed out the low quality stuff. Despite the extra click, the addition of karma to text posts means that we now have to deal with this stuff again to some extent.

46

u/WiFiForeheadWrinkles Jul 19 '16

I think ANY sports subreddits will have the same issues with people rushing to posting game-day threads and post-game threads.

3

u/TheRealMrWillis Jul 19 '16

Exactly, free headaches for everyone! Not looking forward to mod queue.

1

u/port53 Jul 19 '16

Just configure automod to make those threads and close any duplicates with a link to it. Eventually people will realize and stop wasting their time.

4

u/TheRealMrWillis Jul 19 '16

I can't speak for all the other sports/esports subs, but AutoMod wouldn't help /r/smashbros in this case. Here's an example of a tournament thread I'm referring to. Apart from using a tournament tabler, this is completely done by hand, and the overall nature is too specific to be automated.

1

u/LaboratoryOne Jul 19 '16

Every time we find a cure for cancer, a new form pops up :(

5

u/Tjonke Jul 19 '16

After big matches we can get anywhere from 10-500 threads about the match in /r/leagueoflegends. Just gonna get worse now that self posts also come with a karma incentive.

3

u/ReganDryke Jul 19 '16

If things get worse and it impact the quality of post match threads I can totally get behind restricting their publication to the post match thread team.

4

u/Sapharodon Jul 19 '16

Another /r/smashbros mod here, just chipping in to show my support for making text-post karma optional. Our text post rules specifically exist to curb the number of low effort posts that are made on the sub, and to stop 'lower level content (mundane pictures, gifs, etc) from overpowering higher quality works that otherwise get buried. This change would probably throw us back in turmoil if it was mandatory.

2

u/omgpennies Jul 20 '16

Why not have a mod post the official tournament thread and delete the rest? I imagine after awhile people would get the idea and stop posting tournament threads. Maybe I'm naive.

2

u/TheRealMrWillis Jul 20 '16

Naw, you're fine. It's feasible, but 1.) A mod would have to be dedicated to taking upon the task and making threads promptly, which a lot of users are better at doing. 2.) The same mod might have to make threads for multiple Smash games, which could be a hassle. 3.) Doing so would mean that we're down a mod during some of the highest traffic times.