Generally correct, especially if it's too subtle for the varied age groupings and interests - everyone's hair-triggered to get butthurt about some triviality. Eventually the adults will show up in most threads and will occasionally be bothered to correct the karma injustice.
I don’t think people check karma scores. (I never do.) More likely it’s a factor of being on the site long enough to learn what jokes you can slip in without getting downvoted. That would correlate strongly with karma and good reputation.