Karma and other systems may have their social uses, but the single most effective means to improve a social setting is to set a better example. Resist the temptation to snipe at people. Give the benefit of the doubt and first assume misunderstanding rather than malice and, if possible, attempt to clarify rather than attack or defend. Don't take things too personally. If I am in a personal space (not feeling well, recently had something negative happen to me, etc) where I am feeling particularly prickly and thin-skinned, just walk away and come back another time when I am less likely to make a mole-hill into a mountain. And so on.
My experience over the years is that if I engage in more socially effective behavior and do so consistently, eventually, other people will begin to mimic some of those behaviors. Not because they think highly of me, but just because it works. If people don't know a better way, they fiddle around and do whatever it is they do know and then vent about their frustrations. Show them a better way and many people will eventually happily and voluntarily adopt those methodologies because it makes their own lives better. If you want to live in a better social "ecosystem", look to "the man in the mirror" (though, technically, in my case it is "the woman in the mirror") and work on their behavior. Then have a little patience. Sow the seeds. It will bear fruit (as long as you don't then pull it up by the roots to check if it's growing :-D ).