Out of curiosity, why do people care about the points?

I’ve no fucking clue, be slightly interested to find out…only for a moment though.

I like to know that other people are reading my comments, and points is one way of getting feedback. I often do work on another Q & A site, but the absence of points make me feel like my work is futile.

I’d like to portray myself as rising above the “gaming” component of this site; but I’ve found it rather endearing. Personally, I’ve enjoyed the creativity of the various awards, and I’m sorry those aren’t updated/maintained/retired in due course.

The efforts to stop people from gaming the gaming is interesting to me—it’s rather like “come closer / no, stay away.” People like a little pat on the back; I like my slot machines to give me money; and I have developed something of a need for a little lurve on occasion. There, I typed the “L” word!

The points are pointless, but the recognition by my mates is priceless.

Caring about people caring about lurve is also caring about lurve. It’s harmless fun. Taking it seriously enough to be irritated by it is a bit ironic.

its positive feedback for me… Like getting a Gold star from a elementary school teacher. It’s also a form of intimacy and a thank you.

@picante In terms of recognition, yeah i’ll buy that…there see, it interested me for all of half a minute or so :)

@YARNLADY That’s a good point. :-)
I do the same, but I usually look for when my name is tagged, not the points.
That said, come to think about it, I do look at “likes” and “plusses” on FB and G+ respectively to get feedback about my astrophotographs. So I suppose this is more of the same. But on FB and G+ I don’t see people complaining about the “likes” or “plusses”.

@tinyfaery I’m not irritated by the points (although I am obviously irritated by the word “lurve”). I just see questions and comments about it all the time.

On Quora, which I don’t frequent as much, the points mean something. When you get points, you can actually “pay” to ask a particular person to answer a question. The more expert someone is, the more it costs.

@Rarebear I’m just hungry for affirmation; what can I tell you? I don’t angst over it or try to game the system as some mishuggenahs have, but when I’ m near a “milestone” I want to reach it. Juvenile, but true.

@janbb Sorry, I wasn’t trying to single you out, although your previous question did get me thinking about it. Personally, I hope you get to 40K soon as it is kind of fun to watch the parties.

Humans make a point of worrying about pointless things, and if you’re going to worry about pointless things, then they might as well be points. Get my point? Anyway, great pointed question and so GQ points for asking.

I can’t really say I worry about the points, but I do enjoy seeing them creep upward. @janbb, if it is juvenile to like the affirmation, call me a child!

I like to use the GA’s and GQ’s to evaluate the quality of my answers and questions. If I write an answer and I get zero GA’s I know I didn’t help anyone out. The points are just a nice bone, and I do watch them a little more when I get closer to a mile stone. Sue me.

@Adirondackwannabe I completely agree with you on the GA and GQ. I’m okay with that. But you can have that without points.

You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.

@Rarebear I have an attorney nearby who’ll match your attorney. People stop at his office on their way to the ER.~

For the same reason that I go apeshit over the misuse of “it’s” which continues to mean “It is.“Thousands of years of evolution, I guess.

I’m going to transfer mine to my Velocity frequent flyer account so I can come on a trip to the US. They are transferable aren’t they?

Because they want to hang out in the Mansion.
It has a cool bar, and all the hot women are there. And a great house band.
Plus it is gluten free.

Right?

That is right isn’t it?

Well I just reached 5k so I’m kind of liking it at the moment.

It’s kind of like watching your odometer turn over. The reading is there only briefly, but marking the milestones is kind of fun.
A really good response to an answer or a question is also rather satisfying. You know someone appreciates what you’ve said.

Fake points and phony levels. I don’t fuck around.

Don’t worry, @Rarebear, I’m long since maxed out on points for you, so giving you a GQ for this was pointless, but I liked doing it anyway, and that’s the point.

I agree with @YARNLADY. And “agreeing” is the first aspect I thought of – lurve is an easy way to second a point someone made if you a) are in a hurry or b) would like to stay anonymous or c), can’t be bothered to type it out
Another thing…I believe you could say Lurve represents seniority around here.

Aim and scope of my life!

It’s like when my students nod and seem to get what I’m saying when I’m rambling about historical contingency at 9 am—it reassures me that I’m not completely insane.

There’s a tiny part of me that cares because I enjoy watching the number grow, but I care much more because lurve serves as a measure for whether my comments are read. Private messages are even better.

In space no one can hear you scream, but on Fluther, lurve is always nice to hear.

@ETpro I have no idea who I’ve maxed out on points (I obviously don’t pay attention), but I appreciate the like mindedness

@dxs Congrats
@Bellatrix That would be nice.
@Sunny2 Best answer yet. Odometer. Love it.

My lurve is going backwards. Seriously. How does that happen?

I’m not against them, per se, but I’m not a numbers type of person so, like you, I don’t pay all that much attention.

I do find the hidden awards a bit pointless because, logically speaking, if you haven’t the foggiest notion what you did to deserve it, then how could you have “earned” it? Huh?

And I think the repeated number of Qs about the issue are largely from newbies trying to get the lay of the land and figure out how it all works.

I largely ignore most of those Qs. But I do find myself getting irritated when someone is pissiing and moaning because they didn’t get as many GAs as they thought they deserved. Talk about a tempest in a teapot.. Grrrr…

@bkcunningham Lucky!

It could be a Bluegrass song, @Rarebear. I’ve Gotta Backward Kind of Lurve. Or, Don’t Take Back the Lurve You’ve Given Me.

It’s pretty fundamental social psychology, really. People care about the number because it’s loosely connected to status within the group, and it’s quite normal for people to be concerned with status. It’s also quite normal for people to claim not to be concerned with status.

In this group, you acquire status through a combination of several factors: length of active participation, the value of your input, and volume of participation. Since all of these will nudge your lurve score upward to some degree, there will be a very rough correlation between your status within the group and your score. Plus, we reinforce that perceived correlation through the whole party and award scheme. Once that correlation is overtly established, it’s inevitable that the number itself becomes an object of concern.

Then you have the curious little dynamic whereby it’s considered ignoble to be concerned with status. No matter how much status actually means to you, evidencing that in any way will lower your status. In fact, you can actually elevate your status by proclaiming that status (and, by implication, its markers) means nothing to you. That projects a strong security in your sense of status, so that you don’t even feel that it’s worth monitoring. To someone lower in the ranks, that show of insouciance signals someone of unshakeable status.

How much you truly care about lurve scores will depend on several things. One is whether or not your needs for social status are being adequately satisfied outside of this group; if you’re respected and looked up to in other social contexts, then it might not matter so much here. Another is a matter of personality; some people are natural “social climbers” or have highly competitive natures. Others see that they have little chance of climbing the status ladder, whether through lack of time or just not fitting into the culture, so they lower their expectations of getting status here and seek it elsewhere instead. For them, Fluther is likely to serve a more utilitarian than a social function.

Perhaps like @Rarebear, some of us are limited on time and don’t sweat the small stuff?!

I like the differences of opinion and intelligence here (mostly) and that is reward enough for me personally.

I don’t, infact the higher my lurve goes the more it reminds me of how much time I have spent here. haha
Actually I have not been around much the last few months, but, I was for a few years prior.
I agree with @KNOWITALL and would add that I am here mostly for fun, humor, learning and intelligent sharings.

@thorninmud Very thoughtful. Thanks.

Hey, check it out. I’m 1600 away from 20,000 lurve! :-)

@Rarebear Ya see? It’s in the Kool-Ade!

I’m shrinking.

@Rarebear Well…we shall all invent a new vaccine in your honor when the time comes.
The RB 20,000.
Lifelong immunity to Q&A websites. Bust those neuropathways to hell and back, you will never have the compulsive craving to answer another online question as long as you live. lol

I have a corollary to this question. Why is it that those who claim to be completely unconcerned about points ask so often about other member’s interest in points? Isn’t there something logically inconsistent in there?

@ETpro I wonder. If people don’t care about points, why are points always being discussed? Lol. Saw that so much on Answerbag, Fluther does pale in comparison, trust me. And at least people here are way more mature and intelligent about it.

@ETpro Oh! For the win!

It is quite the internet phenomenon. Many websites with point systems eventually have some people fighting over the points. It’s so strange how we seem to create our own problems no matter where we are lol.

I agree with the answer above about fitting in etc. You should check out a larger website like Reddit, where people actually devote time to outing people who make fake posts for the internet points.

A hilarious example is a person who posted a pic of an interracial couple at an alter, with a sob story about how no one came to their wedding because they crossed racisl lines. Well, after further investigation, it came to light that this poster simply stole the picture from some person’s facebook.

There is another aspect of this that I am surprised nobody mentioned. It feels good to give points as well as receive them. Giving points is a convenient way of showing appreciation for an answer.

I used to. Not anymore. I have over 30 g lurve under another name. Once I reached 30, it was no longer a big deal for me for some reason.

Who moi?

@zenzen You, more than anyone else I know, pay attention to points.

@zenzen is a lurve whore. He called me one. Fair’s fair.

I don’t care much about the total points. I rarely notice my number, but every so often I do and for the most part the number doesn’t climb very much since I have been here so long.

I do look at my points on some individual answers and questions, because I might be curious if other people like what I have to say. Especually when I am arguing with somene and feeling maybe I am off base, it’s nice to get some positive reinforcement. Or, even the opposite. No points when many others are getting points on the thread tells a lot also.