[Donaldson Tan]

Scooby Snack FAQ

1. What are Scooby Snacks?

The Scooby Snack at the Chemicalforums is actually the Karma system. Forum members who are in favour of you can add a Scooby Snack to your forum account, whereas forum members who are not in favour of you can substract Scooby Snacks from your account.  Every forum member is eligible to add (+1) or substract (-1) scooby snack of all forum members, except himself/herself.


2. Are there rules to govern members adding/substracting one's scooby snacks?

No. However, in general, when a forum member is in favour of you, it most probably means he/she has a good impression of your chemistry posts which demonstrate your competence in chemistry. Scooby snacks may be deducted for posts which answer the threadstarter's enquiry but demonstrates at least some degree of incompetence in chemistry/engineering or violation of forum policies, such as cross-posting or no internet ettiquette. Sometimes, scooby snacks may be deducted for posts that are contextually offensive or controversial. Scooby snacks may be added in favour of a school of thought over another in an argumentative thread.


3. Can I see who added/substracted my Scooby Snack count?

No. The rationale for this policy is that if a forum member finds it offensive that someone deducted his Scooby Snack count over whatever ground, the forum member cannot trace that individual who deducted his/her Scooby Snack count and thus help to prevent "flame wars" among forum members.


4. Is there a mechanism to prevent abuse?

Each forum member can only add/substract up to 1 scooby snack per day per member.


5. How to interpret Scooby Snack count?

The scooby snack economy can be strange.

The more the merrier. It is a good thing to have more scooby snack counts. However, if your count is negative, maybe it is time to do some self-reflection.