For about a year and a half now, I have frequented a wonderful little site called Reddit. It is a social bookmarking site. Essentially it is a large community where people can share cool things they find on the internet. Other users can vote on whether or not the the submitted link (or picture, etc) is good. As such, on a daily basis the most interesting / funniest/ most pressing things rise to the top of the page.
Anyway, the basis of the site, the motivation that people have to submit content is Karma. Reddit Karma are points that you get every time someone upvotes a link that you have submitted. Karma doesn’t do anything other than accrue. You can’t buy anything with it. It is just a number next to your name. But it signifies that you have contributed to the community. The higher your Karma, the more “good” you have done to the community, by contributing to it and keeping it going- making it what it is.
On the Internet, and on Reddit, there is something called a Lurker. A Lurker is someone who frequents a website, but only reads. They don’t comment, they don’t submit, they just read, or look at, or laugh at the things they see. I suppose that we are all Lurkers at one point or another. We watch things happen silently. We have opinions, but we don’t say anything. we simply… feast on what others are creating and distributing.
Traditionally, Karma is the idea that if you do good things in life, good things will happen to you. If you do bad things, bad stuff will happen to you. Now that’s the abridged version, but I think that this idea holds true on the internet. If you share content, and give feedback to those that provide you with good content, then you’re ensuring that you’ll receive more of that good stuff in the future. We need to contribute, or at least give feedback and acknowledgment to the people that create, curate, or share with you good content online.
Furthermore, one of the great things about being a contributor to something is that you get to have an opinion. If you love a community, online or off, you have a responsibility to contribute to it. Being a Lurker doesn’t help anyone, and it doesn’t help you either.
So what are the applications of this? If you don’t like what is going on in your community- vote, get involved in politics. Support, thank, and acknowledge the individuals or groups that are doing well. If you don’t like what is showing up in your Facebook newsfeed, share some things that you would like to see instead. Like, comment, and share, or retweet the things that your friends are posting. Give them feedback! Let them know that you appreciate what they do. Support your family, your friends, your coworkers. Take a minute to respond to an email and give props for a job well done- that is Karma.
Even if you can’t contribute to a community by creating content, or by running for office, or coming up with a groundbreaking idea- You can contribute by supporting and encouraging good people, good ideas, and good content.
This is the epiphany that I had a couple months ago- I don’t want to be a Lurker in life. I want to be the guy that takes control of his life, and helps other take control too. I’ll contribute whenever and wherever I can. I may not have the best ideas ever, but I will always encourage and support those that do.
