Interesting article about an odd side-effect of discussion list moderation tools. Looking at the example of Slashdot, which famously rates posts (and people who post) with 'karma points' - this to provide filters so people don't need to read flames, foments and 'me too' filler - the author observes that the collecting of karma points has become the primary motivation of many Slashdot community members, changing the dynamics of the discussion list into some sort of game. I'm not completely convinced that this is bad, but people designing scaffolding mechanisms for online class discussions should take into account the possibility that such scorekeeping may result.
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