Reddit is one of the most disruptive social networks in the last couple of years. The reason for this, is because of reddit's unique "karma" system. Karma's unique properties are as follows:
- It is permanent
** Unlike illusive "likes", karma remains attributed to your account. - Everyone can see everyone's karma
** this allows celebrity status and allows users to pic favorites. See reddits esteemed GallowBoob for proof. - Karma allows for users to vote on what other users should see
** this creates a system of value.
I want to tell you how I think this all relates to steem. I think the number one thing that makes reddit value is its karma and the capitalist system is creates. People decide what one's hard work is worth on reddit and that is what they get paid. Except... they don't.
As we all know, users on reddit don't get paid. They just get points "attributed" to there account. This has created one of
the biggest memes on reddit.
If you're me, this once funny meme does just seem silly now. Why would I post original content if I am not going to get paid for it? It is ridiculous. Now, there is something to say about status. Reddit's karma gives users status. On reddit, you know who is cool. You know who knows how to post and who puts out good content. You might be thinking that the way steemit is constructed, people don't get status, they just get money. Thats wrong too! Vests give people status on here. Vests are a lot like the karma system in that they are relatively permanent. Users only being able to withdraw one one-O-fourth of there coinage per week adds incentive to keep it invested. It also means that users who don't value this website or the system it creates are snuffed out. It should also be worth noting that posts are half payed out in vests. This allows them to function a lot more like karma and creates a value system within the pre-exisisting value system. Instead of just: "I have to make a good post so I can make lots of money" there is also "I have to make a good post so that my vests will go up."
I will get to the point here. steemit achieves everything reddit does, but better. Instead of permanent karma we have trust in our users because they remain vested in the system. Everyone can see everyone's vests just like reddit. Lastly we can still pick and chose who we want to vote for.
Reddit's "fake internet points" system was fine for a while. The whole internet has similar systems littered about. They were an inside joke, but now they are an outside joke. Thank you for reading this post.