2 Answers

How does the karma system work?

When a question or answer is upvoted, the user who posted them will gain some points, which are called "karma points". These points serve as a rough measure of the community trust to him/her. Various moderation tasks are gradually assigned to the users based on those points.

For example, if you ask an interesting question or give a helpful answer, your input will be upvoted. On the other hand if the answer is misleading - it will be downvoted. Each vote in favor will generate 15 points, each vote against will subtract 35 points. There is a limit of 200 points that can be accumulated per question or answer. The table below explains karma requirements for each type of moderation task.

* add comments -> 0
* delete comments -> 400
* close own questions -> 60
* reopen own questions -> 120
* retag questions -> 150
* edit any answer -> 400
* open any closed question -> 600
* delete any comment -> 400

I have to edit my answers at times because I see I have misspelled some words. I lose Karma points when I do that? If so, why is it something I'm being punished for?

Colleen

LOL, no...you don't lose points (at least I've never lost any for editing and I edit most all my posts for typos). The breakdown is to show you the amount of karma points you need to do things like edit your comments.