How Upvotes Work

Question

I know this topic is tricky to ask (because of potential downvotes), but I would really like to better understand how upvotes work on HN. I have read some posts about it but all is still very nebulous to me. E.g. if I submit this here there will stand: 1 Point. But I never get this point. Would really be thankful if some could give me more insights how it works without punishing me for asking this.

cushpush · Accepted Answer

Tangentially related: the gravity algorithm is (upvotes) / (hours-since-posted + 2)^gravity where gravity is a constant, 1.8 for HN. So, over time, kinda step-wise on the 60, 120 min mark since posting, gravity's grip increases and pulls the score back closer to zero.

gus_massa · Answer

Each post start with "1". Imagine that it's your own vote. But that is not added to your total karma.When someone else upvote the counter says "2", and your karma should increase.

ulrischa · Answer

Could it be that the points are not calculated in realtime?

How Upvotes Work

Tangentially related: the gravity algorithm is
`(upvotes) / (hours-since-posted + 2)^gravity where gravity is a constant, 1.8 for HN.`
So, over time, kinda step-wise on the 60, 120 min mark since posting, gravity's grip increases and pulls the score back closer to zero.

Each post start with "1". Imagine that it's your own vote. But that is not added to your total karma.
When someone else upvote the counter says "2", and your karma should increase.

Could it be that the points are not calculated in realtime?