Forums » Suggestions & Development Discussion » Like Buttons?

Sometimes I see a forum reply that is so well-written or thought out that I just want to tell the author how great it is without having to reply and derail the thread.

An anonymous like button (probably by collecting user ids in an array?) would be nice. It gives the author of replies the ability to see posts that everyone appreciates (even lurkers!).

I'm not married to it as an idea, just thought I would float it

This is an idea I've definitely toyed with over the years. There've been some spirited debates among community members about whether it's wanted or not -- some hold that just clicking a "like" button encourages not taking the time to write a real response or conditions people to try and seek a numeric number of approvals, while others feel it would make life easier or give nice validation.

It is the current spirited debate and your post in it that led me to suggest this.

I think anyone who has the inclination to write a full response is likely to regardless of a button, and people who are simply spectating or lurking are unlikely to join in regardless.

That said, there is a danger of people falling on the wrong side of it -- i.e. a reply that is heavily liked in opposition to your post could be seen as a slight.

Anyway, I just wanted to say keep up the great work. I love the features and functionality you've built into this place, and as someone with his feet wet in similar large scale web projects, I admire the care that has been put into RPR.

I'm more concerned with anonymous popularity contests to be honest. While likes are appreciated, I also think that it will put a very visible marker on people who are more popular than others. A person whose posts get likes more often than others may find themselves more easily harassed, or someone reaponding to a person who gets likes a lot may feel too intimidated to give their own opinion because it might not get enough likes in comparison etc.

If likes were a thing, I'd prefer likes to be visible to the poster only, not everyone to curb most of the above.

See, I would have liked that post I’d the functionality was there

If it were private, I imagine it could have the desired effect: rewarding good posts by telling people that their content is liked.

And let me be clear: I’m thinking only OOC forums. It shouldn’t be a writing review.

Honestly, it's got way too much of a 'facebook' vibe for me to want it here. I'd rather be able to comment on a post and actually add to the content of the thread, than just click a button. I understand the appeal of it, as I've had the impulse before, but I really feel like it would harm the aesthetic and communicative nature of RPR.