[gradyfps]

In my limited experience, people tend to gamify any numeric metric readily apparent to them.

Anecdotally, total game time (in hours, usually) is used to convey experience in video games (WoW, CS:GO, PUBG). I've seen people create & run 3rd-party software to artificially inflate these types of metrics.

[neilv]

And some metrics aren't just a "game", but are gamed for very real benefit (e.g., gaining admission to a college, getting a promotion, being more employable) in ways that are counterproductive to pretty much all other goals.

So, when something like HN has goals, and you create, say, something akin to a contest and link it to real-world benefits (e.g., people expect a recruiter or hiring to use that "who knows what" info), then many people will modify their behavior, probably to the detriment of original goals.

[robg]

We're trying to stay away from karma for that reason and focus on what people are saying within the community to find trusted voices. How can we do better?

[neilv]

How can Web sites do better at producing valuable and trustworthy content, when what everyone cares about now comes down to SEO?

[nottorp]

Why? All my game times are inflated because I either don't shut it down when i go away or I alt tab out of it, do something productive and forget about it :)