Karma?

I was glancing at my Ubuntu wiki this morning, and noticed a little icon next to my Wikidot “avatar” (which is part of my profile) that looks like some kind of rating. I clicked it, and found out that my “karma” is very high for some reason.


So I wanted to know what this “karma” thing is. It turns out that Wikidot has started calculating this karma thing based on your activity on the site. According to their explanation page, ways you can raise your karma are:

• Creating (and editing) a wiki, which I have done
• Participating in forums, which I have not done
• Participating in “community portals” (whatever they are), which I have not done
• Being a wiki admin, which I have done—but it’s part and parcel of having created a wiki
• Inviting others to join Wikidot, which I have not done
• Having contacts and friends on Wikidot, which I have not done
• Using AdSense on a wiki, which I have not done (although I did briefly toy with the idea)

So, of all of the ways one can raise one’s karma, all I’ve done is create and maintain a wiki, and yet they say my karma is very high. So one of three things is happening:

1. I’ve done a lot of work on my wiki—so much so that my karma has gone through the roof
2. There are few active wikis on Wikidot, meaning that my wiki seems more active by comparison. And keep in mind that I don’t maintain my wiki on a regular basis, so the other wikis would have to be very dormant.
3. Wikidot calculates karma incorrectly, and is giving me more karma than I actually deserve