Fair, although I am not sure that the author was suggesting that this is all about personal karma. Rather, he seemed to be focusing on the best way to get one's content to the front of the page, in order to maximize exposure to readers.
There may be any number of reasons someone would want to do this, karma accumulation being only one of them. Product launches, Kickstarter campaigns, advice being sought or offered, etc., are equally valid and perhaps more likely motives.
Furthermore, I don't think it's fair to infer that the author advocates "gaming the system," or at least not the exclusion of writing good content. Rather, I inferred that he took writing good content as a given, and focused on the oft-pondered problem of how to break out that good content in a crowded news market.
All of that being said, your point #1 is extremely important. People should focus on quality first. It may be possible to game some spammy content to the top of the pile. Eventually, though, this strategy will do the poster more harm than good, whatever his intentions may be.
There may be any number of reasons someone would want to do this, karma accumulation being only one of them. Product launches, Kickstarter campaigns, advice being sought or offered, etc., are equally valid and perhaps more likely motives.
Furthermore, I don't think it's fair to infer that the author advocates "gaming the system," or at least not the exclusion of writing good content. Rather, I inferred that he took writing good content as a given, and focused on the oft-pondered problem of how to break out that good content in a crowded news market.
All of that being said, your point #1 is extremely important. People should focus on quality first. It may be possible to game some spammy content to the top of the pile. Eventually, though, this strategy will do the poster more harm than good, whatever his intentions may be.