Will the 4x multiplier for posts be permanent, when GH points become karma again? I’m not actually against this, but it should be clarified as intentional.
The scoring on posts will stay as usual, it’s only the translation into GHT that will be 4xed. On the post it will say n, but your GoodHeartTokens will say 4n.
I claim there are two ways to think about things: “karma = incentive” and “karma = just deserts”. “Karma = incentive” means that insofar as people are trying to maximize their karma, it pushes LW in the direction we want it to go. “Karma = just deserts” means that insofar as people are earning karma, it is “fair” in terms of how much work they put in.
I think ≈1x is about the right multiplier for “karma = incentive”. I think ≈10x (or even more) is about the right multiplier for “karma = just deserts”.
For the former: Having a lots of good comments per post is super-important for a healthy community and intellectual growth, I would argue, even moreso than having lots of good posts.
For the latter: clearly it takes way more work to get a post upvote than a comment upvote, and thus post-writers “deserve” more.
The status quo is 1x, i.e. the “karma = incentive” optimum. And that makes sense.
But if there’s real money on the line, there’s maybe some benefit in moving in the direction of “karma = just deserts”, at least a little bit. The 3x multiplier splits the difference, which seems reasonable.
But ultimately it depends on how much we care about perceived fairness. I think sticking with 1x, even this week, would have been totally reasonable, maybe even better.
Oh hey, here’s a different model / perspective: Suppose that LW users care about (1) karma, (2) fame. Of the two, (1) pushes people towards commenting, and (2) towards posting. In normal times, let’s suppose that we’re happy about the LW comment:post ratio. But this week, people care a lot more than normal about (1), relative to (2). So that would push the comment:post ratio way out of whack. Increasing the multiplier could help correct for that, I guess.
Will the 4x multiplier for posts be permanent, when GH points become karma again? I’m not actually against this, but it should be clarified as intentional.
The scoring on posts will stay as usual, it’s only the translation into GHT that will be 4xed. On the post it will say n, but your GoodHeartTokens will say 4n.
Basically it won’t last after the week.
Why? The existing multiplier implies that you agree getting karma with posts is harder, so why shouldn’t it extend?
Um, that’s a pretty reasonable point.
I think there’s a justification. Let me try.
I claim there are two ways to think about things: “karma = incentive” and “karma = just deserts”. “Karma = incentive” means that insofar as people are trying to maximize their karma, it pushes LW in the direction we want it to go. “Karma = just deserts” means that insofar as people are earning karma, it is “fair” in terms of how much work they put in.
I think ≈1x is about the right multiplier for “karma = incentive”. I think ≈10x (or even more) is about the right multiplier for “karma = just deserts”.
For the former: Having a lots of good comments per post is super-important for a healthy community and intellectual growth, I would argue, even moreso than having lots of good posts.
For the latter: clearly it takes way more work to get a post upvote than a comment upvote, and thus post-writers “deserve” more.
The status quo is 1x, i.e. the “karma = incentive” optimum. And that makes sense.
But if there’s real money on the line, there’s maybe some benefit in moving in the direction of “karma = just deserts”, at least a little bit. The 3x multiplier splits the difference, which seems reasonable.
But ultimately it depends on how much we care about perceived fairness. I think sticking with 1x, even this week, would have been totally reasonable, maybe even better.
Oh hey, here’s a different model / perspective: Suppose that LW users care about (1) karma, (2) fame. Of the two, (1) pushes people towards commenting, and (2) towards posting. In normal times, let’s suppose that we’re happy about the LW comment:post ratio. But this week, people care a lot more than normal about (1), relative to (2). So that would push the comment:post ratio way out of whack. Increasing the multiplier could help correct for that, I guess.