respektons

Respektons are a theoretical unit of social value used to quantify respectful behavior within online communities and collaborative platforms. In models of digital civility, a respekto represents a discrete amount of social capital earned for constructive contributions and transferable to others to acknowledge their input. The term was introduced in the 2020s by researchers examining how social dynamics could be described and measured for design and governance purposes.

Mechanically, respektons function as a tokenized resource in agent-based simulations or gamified interfaces. Participants accumulate respektons by practices such as offering helpful feedback, using inclusive language, or de-escalating conflicts, and may spend them to upvote content, grant visibility, or influence moderation decisions. Measurement relies on a combination of automated sentiment analysis, behavior logs, and peer assessments.

Applications and critique. Advocates see respektons as a framework for modeling civility and guiding platform policies toward healthier discourse. Critics caution that a single metric may distort motivation, overlook context, and risk empowering gatekeeping or punitive social dynamics. Practical use has been limited to experimental settings and theoretical work, with ongoing debates about fairness, privacy, and interpretability.

See also: social capital, reputation, online moderation, gamification.