Originally Posted by
MoAlpha
They are manifestly rewarding enough to reinforce the kudos-seeking behavior.
I took all of my commutes private, this morning. No cold shoulder intended to my local friends, but the the kudos's from rank strangers gave me the creeps and I don't want random people knowing where I work.
yeh it's bad enough that Google figures it out and could predict where you are with depressing accuracy. And the legal technicality that by publishing certain information -such as our movements - we waive protections against the commercial use of that information even if acquired by other means. But that's a different story.
The grooming analog makes sense. I was speculating that it affirms tribal identity. I'm honestly unsure about it - I see dozens of kudos on someone's nondescript effort, and I suspect that the reward from giving them is at least partly the reciprocity. The leaderboards, comments, flyby's, groups and challenges, all that makes sense.