I've been on reddit for long enough to realize that they are more than "fake internet points." Like I said, my comment was downvoted to the point that it was automatically hidden using the default reddit settings. Downvotes are supposed to be used for comments which contribute nothing to the conversation, but in this case I was being downvoted because people disagreed with me.

So what? Who cares if my comment was no longer visible? Well like I said, leaving a comment in negative tends to make that comment continue to gain negative karma, from hiveminded voters who pick one side of an argument and vote all the way down the thread regardless of the points being made. Moderators can use subreddit settings and automoderator to blacklist users that have a karma score below a certain threshold on their subreddit.

What's more, people using RES can and will tag you in order to follow you other places to downvote or harass you. So having a negative comment is more than just fake internet points, it can create enemies for you who would otherwise not care about you at all. Again, why should I care if I have enemies on a website? Because someone following you around and downvoting your posts will greatly affect the algorithm that determines whether or not your post is "worth seeing", so having enemies brigade you is a good way to make sure your posts are never seen.

I suppose you are right in some regard, I must be stupid.

After all, I replied to a question that was clearly asked to prove a point and not from genuine curiosity. And I ended up trying to argue with someone that would rather call me names than make a valid point.

Anyways, ignore me because I'm an idiot. Let's chalk this up to a misunderstanding. I sent this last comment just to explain why I care about karma and I hope it makes. I have no quarrel with you.