I signed up almost two years ago. Earlier this year I noticed that I had a karma of 11. I asked a few questions of the regulars about what karma was and how to get it. So I decided to contribute more and see what happened. I posted articles that I liked and the karma rose slowly. I found out that 200 points would get you the ability to downvote so I pursued that. My respect for the community grew so I focused on fewer articles of higher quality. After I got over 200 I found that I very rarely used downvoting but I enjoyed the "status" it indicated. Then pg raised the point level to 500 so that kept me active as a goal. I achieved that and then posted an article without much substance but popular that "earned" me over 400 points. That was fun. I still don't understand how articles make the front page, but that's okay. I've settled in to posting a certain kind of article only. And commenting more. The example set on commenting by others (and the occasional downvote received) taught me how to make a better contribution to the discussion. So it's been an informative year for me. Thanks HN.