Quote from: gmaxwell on May 08, 2020, 10:00:10 PM

What we really need is a button that stabs someone in their motherfucking face over the internet.

This isn't going to work the way you think it will.

Quote from: gmaxwell on May 10, 2020, 05:03:22 PM

Right. Apparently I screwed up by using the word "demerit" in my post. Removing merits is not something I consider particularly useful.

This is actually good thinking.

Quote from: gmaxwell on May 09, 2020, 12:57:03 AM

And if "Euro Chems" is saying otherwise, then perhaps they've been using some of their own "chems".

So you were on a right track earlier in the thread that you'd linked to, and which made you angry.

Quote from: DooMAD on May 09, 2020, 01:57:01 PM

Oh, and let's not forget ridicule.

This guy is on the right track to the solution.

Basically, any one-dimensional solution isn't going to work in the social practice; it doesn't matter whether you call it merit, karma, reputation or something similar. It will always be vulnerable to the abuse, whether you call it "merit cycling", "karma farming", "circle jerking", "mutual admiration society" or something similar.

What could work is adding another dimension to the "merit value". It is hard for me to come up with a good name in English, but for sake of this thread lets use the word "funniness". The funniness can be both intentional and unintentional. It really won't matter in the grand scheme of things. Even now some people do give merit while posting a disclaimer that it made them laugh.

I've seen such systems working quite well on other forums that do support plugin architectures. I know this one theoretically does, but it wasn't kept up to date with the official code base, so they won't simplify implementation. I will not post links to those forums because of they aren't in English and to avoid doxing myself.

For the people like gmaxwell with mathematical mind the argument is simple: avoid attempting to order people linearly like the Real numbers. For each two real X & Y numbers exactly one is true X < Y , X = Y or X > Y. At least switch to the Complex numbers, where there are only two choices: either X = Y or it doesn't.

For the people preferring more humanistic approach I recommend familiarizing themselves with the philosophical thinking of Herbert Marcuse that he published in his https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Dimensional_Man . This book is from 1964 so it will not contain anything related to the modern social media. But it does contain lots of very useful thought about the things that are discussed in this thread. Even where Marcuse is wrong, the passage of time and social experience gained until now will make those places obvious.