[webwright]

I would say that an upvote is saying:

"This is good content. I'm glad you submitted it, I'm glad the writer wrote it, and I'm glad I read it."

Upvotes are NOT saying "I agree with this" (I don't think).

The current karma encourages scouring the web for good content for the community. It does not reward creating of good content for the community... I suppose a person could submit their own stuff if they cared that much.

[vlad]

There are more than two reasons a user might upvote another user's post.

Some of the many situations one might click the up arrow:

- to thank others for posting to one's thread in order to create a positive feedback loop

- to increase visibility of what a user wrote or submitted

- to display agreement with points made in the submission

- to "save" the submission for future reference, as users can track what they've upvoted in the past

- to promote a specific idea or ideology