There are upvotes for posts and upvotes for comments but on lemmy you're not reminded of an overall running karma total. The lack of this count makes me feel like there's a lot less pressure for every post or comment to be an absolute banger, witty, smart or something along those lines.
On reddit I would lurk a lot because I was none of those things but I feel like I can engage more now.
What do you think? Do you think it's a good thing, a bad thing or perhaps do you feel indifferent?
Karma system is a waste of resources. It did nothing but create the illusion of faux-popularity of which later on became used as a way to filter engagement by many. Gross addition to reddit IMO, but some liked it.
The wildest, most stupid posts would get karma'd/upvotes.. and the most intelligent thoughts or provocative opinions would get ignored.
Many sub's karma engagement was manipulated by bots too
For a while, not sure if it is still working.. you could post anything in /r/FreeKarma4U/ and you'd be karma blessed.