Like Button Systems and their variants

[Azareal]

Do you find these systems to be particularly useful?

It can be particularly annoying when you have these systems around to prevent people spamming "+1" posts and they end up posting those anyway, although it can help to create a chain of positive feedback around posts.

 

[Kleineganz]

For forums I definitely do. If I'm on a forum that doesn't have a way to like a post, I get really frustrated. I want to let the person know I liked what they had to post, without posting a "Thanks!" reply, which I think can get overly spammy if too many people do that.

 

[lludawg]

I am a hug fan of like buttons! However, I prefer reputation systems where when your post gets liked, your reputation increases. These systems provide a way for members to see who the more respected members are and gives them something to work towards. It is a good way to prevent members from posting bad posts because they don't want a bad reputation score.

 

[Kleineganz]

I am a hug fan of like buttons! However, I prefer reputation systems where when your post gets liked, your reputation increases. These systems provide a way for members to see who the more respected members are and gives them something to work towards. It is a good way to prevent members from posting bad posts because they don't want a bad reputation score.

I wish that were the case, but I've spent time on forums with reputation systems and for someone who is just there to troll, they really don't care about their reputation. They'll troll for as long as they are tolerated.

 

[cyberpuppet]

I am thinking about the best way to go on my forum - there is already a default reputation system but I may add a thanks or like button as well.
As for trolls and bad reputation - it can work the opposite way like with yobs treating ASBOs as a badge of honour and you get those who positively try to get the lowest reputation. Mind you I have seen jokers do the same and they were not trolls - rather extremely bad taste comedians, and they added something to the forum.

 

[Azareal]

I am thinking about the best way to go on my forum - there is already a default reputation system but I may add a thanks or like button as well.
As for trolls and bad reputation - it can work the opposite way like with yobs treating ASBOs as a badge of honour and you get those who positively try to get the lowest reputation. Mind you I have seen jokers do the same and they were not trolls - rather extremely bad taste comedians, and they added something to the forum.

One of the big problems which I've found with negative reputation is that there are people who abuse it in order to censor people who have opposing opinions to them and this can get particularly bad when you have a number of these people around.

 

[cyberpuppet]

One of the big problems which I've found with negative reputation is that there are people who abuse it in order to censor people who have opposing opinions to them and this can get particularly bad when you have a number of these people around.

I agree it does have to be watched. In a perfect world numbers would balance out so for every negative given for different opinions one would be sent back but in reality it does not work like that.

 

[Ed321]

One of the big problems which I've found with negative reputation is that there are people who abuse it in order to censor people who have opposing opinions

Exactly. To tell you the truth, when I scan a message board on Yahoo Finance I look for the posts that get the most negative ratings. That tells me who is providing the contrarian opinion on the stock. I can skip all the fluff posts by the pumpers and see what the potential problems are.

Rating systems are better than not having ratings systems, but the savvy user knows a rating can be manipulated. On a board like this it is great to see who has been around the longest. Thanks again to the veterans here. I have been able to pick up quite a bit in a short period of time.

 

[kfander]

Like buttons can indeed provide a way for people to acknowledge that they have appreciated someone's post without having to post one- or two-word replies that simply clutter up the thread. I know that I appreciate it when someone has "liked" something that I have posted. It's a lot better than wondering whether anyone even bothered to read it.

On the other hand, I would rather people reply with thoughtful responses, whether they agree with me or not, because this is what keeps the conversation going. Certainly, this is what I want to see happening in my own forum but even if I am participating on someone else's forum, if I bother posting to a thread, it is usually because this is a topic that is of interest to me, so I'd like it to continue.

 

[cyberpuppet]

I sometimes use a like simply because the other person has put exactly what I was thinking (only usually better) and any response I could put would consist of "I agree totally with everything you said and can add nothing to it"

 

[xTinx]

Do you find these systems to be particularly useful?

It can be particularly annoying when you have these systems around to prevent people spamming "+1" posts and they end up posting those anyway, although it can help to create a chain of positive feedback around posts.

Like systems are great as they do influence people's interest more often than not. Even if a post is interesting, when there are limited likes, people who tend to go with the flow will just skip through the content and move on to some other content with more likes. Sometimes, it's proof that your article or site is more engaging. What you need to avoid, though, is buying likes or shares. It's a dubious method. Better stick to soliciting legitimate and sincere likes.

 

[Maximum]

Well people are going to post '+1' either way because of the Rep/Karma systems board softwares have.

 

[proxynvpn]

On forums I find them to be very useful if I am honest. Sometimes a thread or even a post doesn't always warrant a reply and sometimes a like is the way to go so having the ability to be able to do that is ideal.