I wish this forum had a "Like" button

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So much wisdom, relatable experiences and comforting support flows through here. So many posts that I'd like to give a little credit to without the effort of having to give my 20cent aswell.

Why not? Or Why?

(Thread moved from Autism discussion to WrongPlanet.net discussion)

A "Like" button would turn WP into a popularity contest.

We have enough personal issues to deal with without having to worry about how many "Like" we have.

^ This.

I agree that it would be nice to be able to praise somebody for a well-written post without having to take up another post to do so and potentially disturbing the flow of the conversation in the process. This could also encourage shier users; if they see that their post is well liked, then they may be more inclined to post more content and, thus, contribute more to the site.

It may not necessarily have to be a "like" button if one is concerned about mimicking Facebook ; I've seen "hearts," "smiles," "cookies," and "____ finds this post to be helpful" serve similar purposes.

The issue with this becoming a "popularity contest" is a valid one, but I feel as though subtle "contests" exist regardless (for example, some could arguably use their post count, how long they've been on WrongPlanet, how many times their name is mentioned when typed into the searchbar, and similar distinctions as a way to feel "popular"). Would having the likes be anonymous do anything to curb the aforementioned issues with this becoming a "popularity contest" (i.e. instead of having "WerewolfPoet and Dubious like this," having "2 people like this")? If not, then would having the likes be private (i.e. instead of everyone being able to see the number of likes that a post has, having this only be viewable to the poster, much like the "edit" button) be useful?

There is also the issue of reformatting the site, though, which has been mentioned to be rather difficult with the specific program used to create this website.

A temporary workaround would be to PM the user of the likable post with something along the lines of "Hey, that post about ____ in the ____ thread was really awesome!", though one could understand how shier users would be hesitant to do this.

I wish there was a ''like'' button too. When I read people's replies to me, I don't always know what to reply back and then it looks like I haven't read them, so selecting a ''like'' button might solve that problem and may help remind you to reply later when you think of something.

Not an FB-related "like" button, I'm not looking to share anything on FB from here-
but an "in-site" button to indicate "I approve" of someone else's post & agree with what was said,
akin to a "thumbs up" icon or function.

Sometimes I want to express that sort of sentiment about a post, but I haven't much to add my own self,
and beyond quoting the person's post and writing something like "QFT" or "Yeah !",
there's not much of a way for me to communicate that notion.

Another forum I belong to has "points" that you can give to another person's post, and I miss that function here.

There's another forum I'm on where a like feature was implemented, and a few of the older users complained that it now trends towards liking a post instead of responding to it, killing off discussion and actual user interaction.

Sometimes I have wished this had a like button. Some people say really nice, inspiring, or funny things on here. On the other hand, we do not need a popularity contest. Also, Facebook is boring now even though I would like for people to know that I appreciate their comments.

I thought high-school type popularity contests were over.

Why can't we all grow up?

If you like someone, tell them!

The only time I ever use the "Like" button in Facebook is when I "Like" something that I've posted.

Its nice to see people like your post or agree with you on whatever given topic but forum rep/likes/whatever really don't serve any purpose beyond that and letting other people know they like you or you posts(where the popularity contest comes in) I know other forum software has the feature but not sure this one does. If you really like someones post and want to respond saying so, I don't think it would disrupt the conversation going on and I don't mods would care unless you were just going around posting one word responses that add nothing in order to rack up posts.