Karma in a gift economy

A true gift economy normally requires gift exchange to be more than simply a back-and-forth between two individuals. A Kashmiri tale tells of two Brahmin women who tried to fulfill their obligations for alms-giving simply by giving alms back and forth to one another. On their deaths they were transformed into two poisoned wells from which no one could drink, reflecting the barrenness of this weak simulacrum of giving. WP: Gift Economy

The story came to mind recently after seeing two parties engage in gift-giving to increase their  “karma” in an online community, reaching the top of the leaderboard. It will be interesting to see how much of the problem is solved with technology, and what portion through old fashioned social means.

I wonder if the intellectual heirs to Mauss’s legacy are doing research on this