Tokens vs fake internet points

I'm thinking about different ways to do user incentives for a website. For example, rewarding someone with Reddit karma for posting something the community likes, vs learn-to-earn or play-to-earn on a web3 app where the user gets an actual currency worth monetary value after performing an action.

I'm curious about how these two ways of going about things compare long term.

Over time, you can have more & more fake internet points. Inflation doesn't matter. But how would you keep up with user engagement over time with currency? Wouldn't you run out eventually?

Any thoughts on this?