Many websites score us. They measure our reputation or activity.
Do you want to be successful? Don’t focus on these website scores. Focus on outcomes.
Example scores
Website scores are really gamification. With these scores, site owners induce you to do things that benefit them.
Here’s scores from some nerdy sites I use:
Github scores my contributions:
Stack Overflow scores the judgment of others on my activity:
Hacker News scores the upvotes of my submissions or comments:
None of these scores meaningfully measure anything important about me.
Scores don’t matter…
Your time is your most precious asset. When you focus on these website scores, you’re giving away your most precious asset, just to enrichen company owners.
These scores don’t matter. These websites don’t even know your goals!
…unless you made the score
The scores that matter will be the ones you’ve created, that measure your progress to your own goals.
For example, I ran a Cub Scout day camp for four years. Wanting to have maximum positive effect on the community, I have a “go big or go home” approach to Scouting. I rated myself in part on how well the camp recruited participants. That is a score I made for myself. It helped us set new records.
Focus for success
If website scores end up being good, that’s fine! But make sure those great scores are merely incidental. They should not be your goal.
Focus on scores that matter. They will be the ones you created. They will help you know your path to your goals.