Why have a button that performs a default action? If, by default, a read comment is worth 0.3 points, give it those points every time it’s read.
This could be used in reverse, too. Have comments’ points decay (say, for the first 4 days only) - to motivate people to save the ones they want to keep, from dropping below the readable-threshold.
Edit: In order to preserve the Karma of writers, the decay could be implemented in a smart way (say, readability threshold for comments increases as they age, so, if a comment doesn’t get 3 upvotes by day 5 or after 10 reads, for example, it disappears)
Why have a button that performs a default action? If, by default, a read comment is worth 0.3 points, give it those points every time it’s read.
This could be used in reverse, too. Have comments’ points decay (say, for the first 4 days only) - to motivate people to save the ones they want to keep, from dropping below the readable-threshold.
Edit: In order to preserve the Karma of writers, the decay could be implemented in a smart way (say, readability threshold for comments increases as they age, so, if a comment doesn’t get 3 upvotes by day 5 or after 10 reads, for example, it disappears)
The first point is answered here. The second point is not about the problem discussed in the article, it won’t help in defence against trolls.