Now I know everyone hates me and I'm old and stupid BUT
how is it possible that a member with 3 posts can have better Karma points than me? Why is it that AndyRosso who is a mod here and also an excellent events organiser has 0 karma?
 Is it because due to his road accident in Europe he has had more important things to sort out in his life than being omnipresent here?
Karma points do not appear to be an indication of anything meaningful at all.....other than possibly recent hours spent on this site.
I think that the inclusion in Member Profiles of Karma Points is confusing for new folk here and I'm sure that the rest of us don't attach any relevance to them.......I would not mourn their demise.

Hi OJ, this is the explanation on the karma percentage. You dont necessarily have to post a lot, if you exchange a lot of pms or nods etc

What is Karma?

Karma is your reputation within the BikerMatch community.  Karma is a way for other members to view your activity, status & popularity expressed as a percentage.Your Karma percentage rating is based on your Karma compared with that of the member with the highest Karma on the website.For example, if you have a Karma rating of 80 compared with 160 for someone else, then you have a 50% Karma rating.

How do I earn Karma?

Karma is a mathematical calculation that is only known by our site developers.  We will not give out the secret behind Karma, so please don't ask!We can however tell you that the following activity will change your Karma...Posting in the forumsChatting in the chatroomSending/Receiving Private MessagesSending/Receiving NodsViews of your profileUploading photos to your profileTagging yourself on event photosAttending eventsSubscribing as a full memberVisiting the site dailyGood/Bad votes from other members (in development)You will gain points for some activity and lose points for others.  For example, you will loose points for every day you are offline but will gain points every time someone views your profile.  Each activity has a different "weighting" and so not every activity will necessarily change your Karma by the same amount.

Popular Members Pages

The "popular members" pages will instantly calculate everyone's Karma, then display those with the highest Karma who have been active in the past 14 days.  The lists do not show inactive members even if they have a high Karma.  The lists also don't include those who have no profile photo uploaded or have hidden profiles.

Yes, thanks for that RB....I read that too. But it still fails to explain how anyone with 3 posts can have a higher Karma than I do or , in fact, why AndyRosso, a moderator, has ZERO Karma.

I don't buy the 'status and popularity' explanation. Someone with 3 posts is not known to the community and a moderator who gives up hundreds of hours of his spare time organising events for at least a couple of years doesn't retain his Karma when he is trying to sort out the accident he just had.....No! I'm sorry but the mathematical algorithm used to calculate the percentage is seriously flawed.
It means that someone who is seriously ill in hospital for a few weeks suddenly loses any Karma they once had....which to put it mildly is grossly unfair. I appreciate that bikers go through life being treated unfairly but it shouldn't follow that that they are then penalised on a BIKER site for something which cannot be otherwise avoided.

Well I've had a little look around to see if I can find another example of someone who has, through no fault of their own, lost their Karma due to illness or injury and I remembered that Wenders who had an accident and then a really ghastly infection develop is also a 'staffer' here. If memory serves me correctly, she organised a very good event in Wales last year which all who attended thoroughly enjoyed.
Why should she be penalised??
 If Karma is taken seriously, and there are those who will be inclined to do just that, it paints a false picture which serves no purpose whatsoever. If it's just a 'fun' thing then why does it feature so heavily in the running of the site. It should be scrapped...or at least hidden.

I agree OJ, the karma rating system would not be missed if it was suddenly to disappear. I log on everyday, in the morning before I go to work and at night when I get home and want to wind down for a while. On my days off my pc is logged on all day most of the time and I have been a prolific attendee in the chatroom, and yet I am not in the top twenty guys. This is not sour grapes, I personally couldn't give a monkey's wether I am top 20 material or not, just pointing out thAt the karma points don't seem to have any relation to your activity on the site. As OJ states, there are people who are rarely seen in the forums and never seen in chat who are in the top 20. My standing within the ranks of BM members is of no real consequence, people either like me or they don't, my popularity should not be judged by a system that no-one understands and the upper echelons feel it is ''Top Secret'' and as such cannot be divulged to the masses.

Karma has always been a wee bit like marmite to be honest.   Sending 100s of pms boosts your Karma, uploading 100s of photos to events pages etc boosts your Karma, adding yourself to an event boosts your Karma   Karma doesnt actually mean high profile just means active in some way shape or form.   Its each to their own, some folk crave high Karma, i personally am not fussed what my Karma is :)                                                                                                                                                                             

Yes, I have to agree with all that double six has stated.
Another anomale is that Jinx very sadly decided to leave BM a few weeks back, his account is closed and thus he has no profile. His 'Karma' is still 36%......how does that work?
I think a poll should be started to see if anyone would actually mind if 'Karma' was discontinued. It's clearly entirely worthless and pointless and can also be easily misinterpreted to give a misleading opinion of folks!

The last example I'm going to quote is 'Gill clay' who according to her profile has never been to any events, isn't planning to do so and has NEVER posted on the forums. She is number 7 in the Female Top 20 and has a Karma of 44%...............Ludicrous!

PS. If that lady is reading this please do not think that anyone is having a go at you. There seems to be something very wrong with the site's rating system...is all.

wasn't karma a chameleon?                                                                                                                                                                              

 Certainly was xj!                                                                                                                                                                              

  This topic has been raised a few times, along the same lines, 'What's the point?' with myself being one of the first to say 'scrap it'   Matt has said it will not be removed as it is an incentive for people to participate more on the site, those who are competitive that is.    I think calling it the 'popular' members page is inaccurate as it isn't just popularity that makes up the karma rating. Posting in the forums is about interacting not being popular.   Perhaps Matt would create an opt-out button for those who don't want to see it?                                                                                                                                                                                 

There are too many anomales to make it anything other than a novelty item......if Matt really believes that it's some sort of incentive generator then so be it. He's the boss and it's his ballpark we're playing in.

Perhaps I'm too critical for my own good.....perhaps there are really people here that find it to be an wonderful facility.....

I personally love it, it serves as a constant reminder that nobody likes me and I may aswell go and eat worms.                                                                                                                                                                               

  OJ.... I totally agree with you, it is something I have tried to ask about in the past and got nowhere.   There are some 'STANDARD' members on here who obviously as they are STANDARD cannot post or send PMS etc but they still have high karma....I could name them but won't.     Perhaps it has to do with how good-looking they are so as to attract people to the site....but what is the point if they cannot reply to nods or pms......is it misleading to people?   I don't think you will get a straight answer to it.....   P.S. I couldn't give a toss what my karma is                                                                                                                                                                              

Funny, one of the standard members whose karma actually went up while she was standard and non existent on the site for the last two months has now suddenly gone full member....right after I posted above post....                                                                                                                                                                              

I reckon some standard members have high karma due to them formally having been very active full members but who's subscription has recently expired, or at least I know that's the case with one person in particular . Other than that thought, the whole things totally beyond me!

Surely if you are in the group of folks who think its a waste of time then it wouldn't bother you at all !! Just an observation :)                                                                                                                                                                             

Oh xj.....No! Not true! You are loved by at least as many people who love me.......You want salt & pepper on the worm sandwich??                                                                                                                                                                               

i ain't bloody sharing me sandwich wiv nobody, go catch yer own.
                                                                                                                                                                             

Sandi....Matt did create an Opt Out option for the karma a couple of years ago.  I opted out at the time but have no idea if it is still available.