Several weeks ago I changed my sig to "Mod/Karma system is broken. Make me a friend and I'll mod up your posts." Ever since then, I haven't received a single allotment of mod points (I was at one time getting them every week or so). Coincidence? Maybe.

But seriously, the system is broken. The time limit on mod points encourages busy moderators to throw their points at just about anything they can, knowing that if they don't use them up they'll be less likely to get more. The karma burn people get from being repeatedly modded up and down (consider what happens with the Funny mod) is just plain stupid.

As for my new sig, I'm keeping it. If I get mod points again, I'll be doing exactly what it says -- within reason. Basically I'll be scanning all my fans' and friends' comments first for potential up-mods. This means that as a fan or friend you get special consideration before everyone else, but it also means that if you're being a jackass you might get a down-mod. If I have any points left after that, I'll apply them to the general public.

At least this method doesn't just throw mod points at the first screen or two of comments on an article, leaving deeper comments untouched. At most, it might encourage the Slashdot programmers to rethink the system, especially if the idea catches on.

So I'm looking at Will Humanoid Robots Take All the Jobs by 2050?, and I see that the first 7 posts have all been moderated to +5. None of these posts are that insightful, informative, or funny, but I have a pretty good idea as to why they got modded up that high.

Under the current system, when mod points are handed out, the moderator gets 3 days to "use them or lose them". Furthermore, if the moderator doesn't use up his points, his chance of getting another allotment is decreased. Add to that the risk of getting negative karma for modding negatively, and it's pretty easy to see why the first several posts that are even remotely on topic always get modded up to ridiculous scores.

Some possible solutions that came to me are:

1. Eliminate the criterion that shuts off the flow of mod points to those who don't use them up. People go on vacation, or get busy with other things in life, and don't always have the time to apply their mod point allotments. Why penalize them for this?

2. Only the most extreme cases of abuse should result in penalties for modding negatively. Maybe this is already so, but the moderator community needs to be reassured that they won't get penalized when they mod down something that's been modded too high.

3. Create some sort of incentive for deep moderation. Perhaps mod points applied to posts deeper than the first 50 would only subtract half a point from the moderator's allotment.