4 questions about Points

1. Why Spanking is not Spamming

Q: If every person you send a link to is a "spank", doesn't that encourage spam?

A: A good Spank 101 question. The answer is No, because your points depend a lot on your quality rating, which depends on whether people open your mail and click on the link or embedded video. The quality rating strongly DIScourages spam.

In fact, since the quality rating was established, spankers who have sent fewer links with higher quality ratings have usually been victorious. (On surprising victories, see also "Point Spikage" below.)




2. Why you should spank your enemies... and send their spanks onward

Q: "I spanked something to about a dozen people. X saw it and for the sake of argument, he spanked it on to another dozen people. Do I get any credit for having originally spanked it? All other things being even (e.g. number of our friends who open it) which of us comes out ahead, or do we both make out evenly?"

A: the exact recipe for points is secret, but the basic idea is that it's good for both of you when you spank someone and he spanks it onward. you do get points when he passes it onward. he gets points too.

if you think he will send it onward, you might as well spank him so you get a piece of the action. otherwise he'll probably see it (if he's playing for keeps) and spank it but then you get no action.

from his point of view, a good link is always worth spanking even if it originated with someone else. the reason is that he gets more points from the spank than you do.

so, oddly, even if you're directly competing, it makes sense for you to spank him, and for him to spank it on (if it's a good link and the recipients like it).

if you spank him, it's illegal for him to try sneakily to start it fresh as a new spank. that's not allowed and you can report it (to your gain and his detriment, though it's an informal process at the moment).

so, spank your enemies. but see the next point.




3. Spanking Strangers

Q: "Can I spank strangers?"

A: No. You can only spank your friends on the site, and email addresses that you have. We played around with this idea and that way turned out best.

It may be a win-win to be friends with your competitors - particularly if you read and like the same types of links.





4. Point Spikage

Q: "How did X's points skyrocket with just a couple posts?"

A: there is a major reason, and a minor reason. the major reason is that X probably invited some friends to the site. friends can win you some major points!!! second, X may have a very high quality rating. the quality rating is very powerful. someone who brings lots of friends to the site and sends some high-quality links can amass muchos puntos.