fang2415's Journal: *No* laughing

Welcome to Slashdot. Do *not* be Funny.

Being modded Funny does not improve your karma. Any negative mod (as far as the FAQ seems to say) will hurt your karma.

Bizarrely, what this means is that if anybody thinks your comment is funny, you stand to lose karma. They mod your post up: karma stays the same. Someone else disagrees and mods comment down. Fair enough. Your karma drops.

Post a comment at 2 with Excellent karma, then watch as people with different opinions come along, modding your post +1 Funny, then back down again. After a while, your post ends up right where it started. Your karma, OTOH, has dropped from Tops to Spam in one post. To get your comments read ever again, just hope that a mod is browsing at -1. Otherwise, g'bye.

I'm pretty new around here to be so critical, but I've had to learn this the hard way. So newbies, take note:

• Slashdot should, but does not, have a karma-neutral Unfunny mod.
• Until it does, if you want to screw somebody's karma without being seen to do it, mod them Funny.
• If your comment has an ounce of humour in it, post AC.

Okay, enough cynicism. Back to making funny AC jokes, and solemn, dignified, Slashdot comments.

Overrated

[HTH NE1]

As I understood it, Overrated and Underrated mods also do not affect karma, though this supposition is not supported (or denounced) by the FAQ. This opinion may have come to me by the fact that Overrated and Underrated mods are not subjected to meta-moderation.

The FAQ though does say that those mods are reflective not of the article but of the moderation of the article. By that logic, if anyone's karma would be affected by them, I propose it should be the most recent contrary moderator, i.e. they should h