
Ask HN: How Do Karma Points Work? - bkohlmann
Friends: I&#x27;ve been using HN for a number of years, and love it. But I&#x27;m perplexed by the karma system - specifically how points are added to a profile.<p>For instance, earlier this week I posted an article. I began with 411 Karma points and by the next day, I had 415.  The article I submitted recorded 8 points with 9 comments. I used to think it was a 1:1 ratio for points (minus the point I get for submitting). I imagine there may have been a downvote or 2, but then I would expect the 8 points to be &quot;net.&quot;  Or perhaps downvotes have an outsized effect on Karma vs. an upvote.  Does getting comments on articles affect the karma count?<p>Further, I&#x27;ve also noticed articles with more points in less time ranked below articles with less points in more time for front page rankings.  I&#x27;m interested to understand this dynamic.<p>I understand there are lots of behind the scenes (proprietary) algorithms to prevent gaming the system, and that certain levels of karma achieved enable outsized influence.  But a general overview that doesnt give away the secret sauce would be useful - you know, for Science.
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Jaruzel
From the FAQ:

 _How is a user 's karma calculated?_

Roughly, the number of upvotes on their stories and comments minus the number
of downvotes. The numbers don't match up exactly, because some votes aren't
counted to prevent abuse.

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Obviously, to stop people gaming the system, Dang & co don't really want to go
into the specifics. I do recall some older posts and some blogs that have
analysed it heavily though, so a bit of Googling may help you.

On a side note, I crossed the 500 karma points boundary yesterday, and I am
relishing my new down-voting power! ;)

