Japan’s sumo season has come to an end, but the power users over at JapanSoc are just getting started.
What is JapanSoc Sumo?
It’s a new measure for ranking users so we can see who the biggest contributors to JapanSoc are. You earn points by submitting stories, voting, commenting, saving stories as “Favorites”, and for getting positive votes on comments you write. The more points you get, the higher up the sumo rankings you’ll move, until everybody recognizes you as an almighty Yokozuna!
What happened to Karma?
Karma is still there, but is now merely an indication of a user’s recent activity. If I can ever figure out the magical Karma formula, I’ll try to include more factors than just submitting stories and voting into the equations.
How do you get sumo points again?
Here’s the breakdown:
- 10 points – Submitting a story that hits the front page
- 7 points – Submitting a story that doesn’t make the font page
- 5 points – Commenting on a story
- 3 points – Voting for a story
- 2 points – Adding a story to your Favorites
- 1 point – Receiving a positive vote on a comment
How many points do you need to move up the rankings?
Everyone starts at Jonokuchi, the lowest level sumo rank…
- <1,000 points – Jonokuchi
- 1,000 – 1,999 points – Jonidan
- 2,000 – 2,999 points – Sandamme
- 3,000 – 3,999 points – Makushita
- 4,000 – 4,999 points – Juryo
- 5,000 – 5,999 points – Makkuchi
- 6,000 – 6,999 points – Komusubi
- 7,000 – 7,999 points – Sekiwake
- 8,000 – 9,999 points – Ozeki
- >10,000 points – Yokozuna
10,000 points! You’ve got to be kidding me!
I’m hopeful that JapanSoc will continue to grow and and establish itself as one of the biggest Japan-related social sites of its kind. So, five or ten years down the line, any Ozeki or Yokozuna will be like JapanSoc gods to all the new users that join. And if you’re a blogger, you can be sure they’ll start reading your blog!
The current top ten power users are…
Juryo:
- LongCountdown (me, Nick) from here and Virtual Tripping
Jonidan:
- ShaneS from A Typical Life and The Tokyo Traveler
- Deas from Rocking in Hakata
- fz22gq also known as Neil Duckett
- OmoshiroiEigo also known as Michael McKinlay and Omoshiroi Eigo
Jonokuchi:
- Thomas from Nihon Hacks and Babelhut
- Hawaiibadboy from Chris’ English School
- thechemist from the Daily J (whatever happened to Tori?)
- billywest from 7:10 to Tokyo and Billy West Evolution
- freedomwv from The Liberty Factor
… and snapping at their heels are a bunch of regular contributors who I’m sure will break into the top 10 very soon! See the full Top Users List for more.
Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Addition: Points are updated every 6 hours, not instantly.
If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!
Get Mike over here; I’m gonna bodyslam that guy!
I shall slap the taste out of your mouth for that comment Billy! And now I shall vanquish you from the ring!
I’ve always felt that I should be treated like a God… and it’s about time that someone recognized that, even if I’m only considered a JapanSoc God.
You guys are too funny! Just remember that it’s not nice to beat up a girl and chivalry dictates that you should let me make history and be the first female yokozuna! 😉
You might want to consider a sports bra in the next photoshopped collection, milady. 😉 æ¥ãšã‹ã—ã„。
Absolutely Brilliant Nick ! … love the idea and humour behind this!
This is a fun way to encourage interaction! 2 thoughts. 1, when you say to “vote for a story,” I assume you mean “vote” only in the positive sense. In other words, burying does not add to your sumo weight. Ha ha – pun not intended, but appreciated. 2, don’t you think 7 is a little high for a story that doesn’t make it? I wonder if it’ll lead to people just submitting stories for the 7 point bump, even if they’re crappy. 🙂 Just constructive criticism! Ha ha. But yeah, I like this – it’s more fun than karma.
1. That’s right, you don’t get points for burying a story. However, if there are 3x more buries than socs, the story is deleted, so the person who submitted it would lose the points they got.
2. I weighted the points according to the effort needed for each action. Submitting a story, good or bad, takes longer than simply voting or leaving a comment, so the reward should be greater. It could lead to a bunch of crappy stories, but the thousand point marks are so high, I’m hoping no-one will bother trying to abuse the points system. Still, if it becomes a problem, I’ll lower the “bury” requirement from 3x to 2x the number of socs.
Although I shouldn’t change the rules in the middle of a “tournament”, I might be tempted to adjust the points-per-action to either encourage or discourage certain activity. We’ll see how it goes, but I’ll consult the “power users” before doing anything drastic! 😛
Good points Deas, especially about the bra!
Great!! I’m loving it!!
But I’m thinking about the next level: why not just go fighting in a ring for points? that can generate some buzz!! 🙂 🙂
Wow Nick do you sit in your office and just think ideas all day?? Very clever and has inspired me a little more to find that cool story and actually do something about it!!
Just wait until the weekend and I get some free time. Some stories are getting buried, baby!
Nick, can I have some points for reading all these entertaining comments? Prepare yourself for Sumo Mum. I’ll be back
How dare you not acknowledge your BIG brother as the Sumo king. I want a photo of me placed with the gang. Rikky and I dare to take you all on, bras and nappies included
You all sound totally bonkers to me. Readers, don’t you feel sorry for me giving birth to the Brothers Dim?
I like the new ranking system Nick! It’s much better than Karma which is so temporary!