"Like" button on the BOI.

Originally Posted by JButera

The other day I wanted to say 'thanks' to two members on a BOI thread for answering a question I'd asked; however, at the time I had nothing worth saying but 'thanks'. I knew subscribers to that thread would be notified and scamper back to the conversation only to be annoyed by my post.

I don't get the mentality that suggests appreciation is devalued if it isn't on display. As Dan mentioned, that's what the karma system is for; and its just a click away. Not personal enough? Add a message. If you really appreciate their effort to respond to you - send them a PM.

The idea of people getting notified and scampering to read your post is amusing...I turned off email notifications as soon as I found out I could; and would never allow such notifications via cell. I know people that are so "connected" that they get notified of everything - it just seems sad, to me.

Originally Posted by JButera

Unfortunately, old-school don't cut it on the web. Fb pretty much wiped out the discussion forums here and on Kingsnake, it'll be the buying and selling next. I never said this site was broken or needed fixing, just saying it could use some upgrading.

One man's opinon. Old-school may just be the one thing that outlasts all others, lol. Sometimes progress is not progress at all, but rather a gathering of sheeple who fall for the BS and techno "progress", intrusion and brain washing.

Originally Posted by JButera

The other day I wanted to say 'thanks' to two members on a BOI thread for answering a question I'd asked; however, at the time I had nothing worth saying but 'thanks'. I knew subscribers to that thread would be notified and scamper back to the conversation only to be annoyed by my post.

Uh, so since you have nothing to say but "thanks", then say "thanks", via Karma or the PM system. If users wish to subscribe to new posts, then that that is the choice of that user. If they should be annoyed by your post(s), that is THEIR choice. Personally, I do not subscribe or scamper.. I may log in here every or every other day, but not so obsessed that I need to be notified of every new post. Nor do I need public recognition if I leave positive karma or an agreement with a particular post.

Yeah, it ain't broke. We're good

Originally Posted by LauraB

One man's opinon. Old-school may just be the one thing that outlasts all others, lol. Sometimes progress is not progress at all, but rather a gathering of sheeple who fall for the BS and techno "progress", intrusion and brain washing.



Uh, so since you have nothing to say but "thanks", then say "thanks", via Karma or the PM system. If users wish to subscribe to new posts, then that that is the choice of that user. If they should be annoyed by your post(s), that is THEIR choice. Personally, I do not subscribe or scamper.. I may log in here every or every other day, but not so obsessed that I need to be notified of every new post. Nor do I need public recognition if I leave positive karma or an agreement with a particular post.

Yeah, it ain't broke. We're good

So Fauna is perfect as is and is in no need for an upgrade, ever? Yeah, we're good for now.

The site isn't perfect - I don't think anybody would make a claim that it is...but trying to make it more Facebook-ish isn't an appealing thought to everybody. Some would love it, others would hate it (just like every other change made around here, lol).

Rich is pretty tolerant of constructive criticism, and willing to listen to ideas for the betterment of the site. <shrug> Doesn't even have to be for the betterment, necessarily, if the ideas are for what people want and it won't be detrimental to the site. Of course, depending on what those wants are, and what they entail, he may consider long and hard whether they are worth doing. (ie whether it's a feature already available in vBulletin, an easy one time add on, custom programming, etc....the greater the long term cost/hassle, the more return would be demanded.)

Originally Posted by hhmoore

The site isn't perfect - I don't think anybody would make a claim that it is...but trying to make it more Facebook-ish isn't an appealing thought to everybody. Some would love it, others would hate it (just like every other change made around here, lol).

Rich is pretty tolerant of constructive criticism, and willing to listen to ideas for the betterment of the site. <shrug> Doesn't even have to be for the betterment, necessarily, if the ideas are for what people want and it won't be detrimental to the site. Of course, depending on what those wants are, and what they entail, he may consider long and hard whether they are worth doing. (ie whether it's a feature already available in vBulletin, an easy one time add on, custom programming, etc....the greater the long term cost/hassle, the more return would be demanded.)

My mistake was using the 'f' word. Me personally, I hate fb most of the time, wishing happy birthday to total strangers and getting into heated arguments about topics that I couldn't care less about. IMO, this site is too heavily policed to come anywhere close to what fb has become and I mean that in a good way.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

I don't get the mentality that suggests appreciation is devalued if it isn't on display. As Dan mentioned, that's what the karma system is for; and its just a click away. Not personal enough? Add a message. If you really appreciate their effort to respond to you - send them a PM.

The idea of people getting notified and scampering to read your post is amusing...I turned off email notifications as soon as I found out I could; and would never allow such notifications via cell. I know people that are so "connected" that they get notified of everything - it just seems sad, to me.

If there was a like button this post would get one.

I see I'm outnumbered here lol, oh well, I tried. Anyway, thanks to all who participated.

Originally Posted by JButera

My mistake was using the 'f' word.

I do believe you're right on that...though my initial paragraph was solely based on experiences on other forum based sites that utilize a like/acknowledge/appreciate button. The fact that there is a space added at the bottom of any post so recognized, annoys me...and I wasn't able to find a way to turn it off. I don't care if it's there for other people to use and enjoy; I just don't want to look at it. The facebook reference did color my base reaction, though. (I almost made a comment referencing a site that was so much like facebook that you'd swear it was the real thing...you'll love it! Naturally, I would have included a disguised link to faceboook)

Me personally, I hate fb most of the time

I like you better already

wishing happy birthday to total strangers and getting into heated arguments about topics that I couldn't care less about.

Oh. My. God.
You do that stuff?
You, sir, are part of the problem. If you don't know the people, why are you getting birthday notifications? How about screw facebook and its notifications...they aren't going to kick you off if you don't acknowledge those things, after all. If you know, and care about a person, wish them a happy birthday face to face, call or text if distance or schedules are a barrier. I don't let facebook tell people my birthday (I lied about the date when I set it up, just in case it didn't offer that option)...largely because I don't want to see a page full of posts from people that wouldn't waste the breath it took to say it if we crossed paths on that day.
And heated arguments about things you don't care about? You know what they say about arguing on the internet, right? I enjoy a little debate, even a friendly argument, from time to time...but, if I truly don't care, it's just a waste of time.

Originally Posted by JButera

I see I'm outnumbered here lol, oh well, I tried. Anyway, thanks to all who participated.

Nothing wrong with bringing up the idea, change can only happen if enough people push for it.

I don't have a problem with it but I could see it being a huge 'popularity' thing. Heck even karma is used(abused) that way sometimes; examples - people giving the same person multiple hits of positive karma (esp if that person is in the red and they want to 'help' get them back into the green) or hitting every post the person makes with negative simply for not liking that person or something they said in one post.

I also agree with Jesse:

Originally Posted by lilgreenbee

I don't see how it would work very well in the BOI. IMHO I think it would reward good comebacks more than resolutions of conflict.

Also noting that people use Karma the same way - giving good karma to snarky responses because they think it was a funny comment or what-not, it's just not visible to the general membership. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just illustrates what was said. Making 'likes' visible could possibly encourage some of those types of 'rude' or 'off topic' posts (maybe the karma already does) simply because the person wants more attention.

My concern with the notion of visible or publicly tallied "likes" is that it becomes more about agreement itself than the veracity of the statement or the quality of the argument put forth. While I do not dislike being agreed with, I want it to be due to thoughtful consideration instead of popularity or cult of personality type stuff. To me, the notion of public likes in an often serious setting like the BOI (with financial/material restitution sometimes being a deep factor) could end up fostering something akin to a mob mentality. More agreement does not turn something incorrect into something correct. Less agreement or a state of outright disagreement does not invalidate a well-reasoned position. If it becomes much more about emotional tides than the construction and relation of a logical perspective based on evidence and balance, I think value can easily be lost. That this could be achieved without even fully expressing oneself leads me to believe that agreement in the form of a like will be more knee-jerk and less carefully evaluated by the average person agreeing. That can happen in private with the karma system, too, but the public nature of likes is, to me, more likely to propagate a hasty collection by virtue of others seeing the aggregation of earlier "votes" and finding themselves swayed by raw volume rather than specifics.

Were it implemented, I would tolerate it, but I would not enjoy it in the context of the BOI. Giving thanks for tips and so forth in another discussion forum section when someone wants help or wants to learn is fine, but then I question why that thanking needs to be public in a tallied system. I want to thank the person who helps me, but I do not think I am doing that person any special service by advertising my thanks. I want that person to know. Others should be irrelevant to my giving thanks as I see it. Nothing wrong with it being public by incidental consequence, but wanting it to be public might be more about the display than the spirit of the sentiment.