What's your opinion on the "like" button?

[Knezzen]

What's your opinion? Do you feel like you have the need of a like button or not?
Vote and please motivate your vote with a comment below

I voted "No!" because I think that the like button hinders real discussions, which is what a forum is all about. It belongs, if anywhere at all, on social media.

[ssp3]

I voted "No". People should interact. Pressing buttons dumbs everything down.

[Windoze]

I voted "I don't care" because I really don't care about it

[Protools5LEGuy]

As a moderator I dont always have the time to interact fully the conversation

The like button also act as a I have readed your post and I aprove it. So other moderators can see that I readed it.

Of course 3 words can say more than "like", but the meaning of like in Facebook is different than here. Or Instagram hearts. Here the post are less superfitial than on fb or Instagram. And almost always is not self promotion.

Other users can always opt to not press the like button or Just ignore it. Just because the most users "dislike" the button it doesnt mean than for a fistful of users Isnt really handy.

[aBc]

I don’t “slam” the like button. I simply press it ever-so-gently after I have read the contents of a post and found it worthy of "a like". Then if any further comment or additional information is called for… I’ve the option of a follow-up post. I’ve not lost any ability whatsoever to give my mind a chance to form an opinion by pressing the like button. I’ve already read the post and I wouldn’t have liked it, if I hadn’t read it and already formed an opinion. It's use does not lock the thread from more posts. It does not prevent anyone from commenting further on any "liked" subject or post if they so desire… even after someone has “liked” a post. It isn’t restrictive.

…people simply slam the like button and away goes any ability to give your mind a chance to form an opinion on whatever topic you "liked". No discussion. Just single posts with information with "likes".

If it helps, call it a “thumbs up” button or a “Love” button - if that helps to allay concerns that it’s so similar to damned dreaded social media. No one is forced to use a “Like” button, but it can be a particularly useful option for various reasons.

Thanks @indibil! As you may know I am currently attempting to replicate your work with the copper heatsinks for the Mac mini (and eventually) your new approach to overclocking the minis too. And I most certainly appreciate the time and extra effort that you expend to translate your information from your native tongue to English. And while I am certain that many here do read your posts, not all will take the time to comment in a similar fashion as this. Keystrokes and more keystrokes just to say yes, your contribution is great, it’s appreciated or I agree with what you’ve done… keep up the good work!

When a simple “click” can convey >most< all of the above. Certainly, this helps to further illustrate just how useful and important the old “Like” button could actually be?

Don’t forget to vote above AND to submit your vote in order for it to be counted. Simply replying here does not register your vote.
And again, admittedly I was initially against the button when it was first implemented, thinking that it was like Facebook - but eventually I found it useful. So if you don’t like it, you don’t have to use it. But it hurts nothing for it to be an option. And yes, many moderators take the time to read every post, daily.

[Protools5LEGuy]

Example: I said something interesting  (to me) in my post, but aBc explained his thoughts more deeply than I.

Postíng " I agree with you aBc" takes one more reply to this post and a reader has to go further down to follów the real conversation. A like button would had made this threath shorter and more concise. And the like button would make this same reply  unnecesary.

[ssp3]

On the other hand, having "Like" button and at the same time having no likes below your post is even more demotivating - why post if nobody likes it? Keep the information for yourself and your mouth shut. Or better go elsewhere.. 

[Mat]

Society is moving in the wrong direction anyway. "Buttons" are part of this. Interaction, the human element in general, is already too often reduced to "being liked" or not – with a simple click. I consider this "self-expression", the  reduction to feelings, to be really harmful. There should be no place for ratings in a forum like this. Good conversations and appreciative interaction will not come about through evaluations and a supposedly increased sense of self-worth ascribed by others. I find buttons seriously socio-politically dangerous and have therefore never used them. I would be delighted if the forum could do without them again in future.

[Protools5LEGuy]

On the other hand, having "Like" button and at the same time having no likes below your post is even more demotivating - why post if nobody likes it? Keep the information for yourself and your mouth shut. Or better go elsewhere.. 

If I had a "working" Like button...

 proper manners and making an intelligent question or curious discovery ensures a like from 3 or 4 users within hours.

You have to really screw a conversation to have no likes.

[Protools5LEGuy]

Society is moving in the wrong direction anyway. "Buttons" are part of this. Interaction, the human element in general, is already too often reduced to "being liked" or not – with a simple click. I consider this "self-expression", the  reduction to feelings, to be really harmful. There should be no place for ratings in a forum like this. Good conversations and appreciative interaction will not come about through evaluations and a supposedly increased sense of self-worth ascribed by others. I find buttons seriously socio-politically dangerous and have therefore never used them. I would be delighted if the forum could do without them again in future.

A like button or flag doesnt mean evaluation in general.

As a moderator I had readed ALL the forum twice. First time without the Like flag sorting everything as DieHard requested. And after that spent weeks giving likes to every post that were useful, leads to something or is innovative in its info or informative in a good way.

I would be terrible dissapointed if the like button isnt implemented again. Knezzen promised that would try to implement it almost since the begining of my cry. And now ask for your validation.

I beg every user that sees the like button as the evil to consider just Ignore the button if you consider it harmfull (to you).

There is no "Dislike" button. I would consider it harmfull. But a Like flag here doesnt mean the same harmfull thing that on FB or Insta.

Please try to see the like button with new Eyes and without toxic connotations

[Greystash]

I'm a fan of the Like button too. I don't often have a lot of time to write out responses to everything I read, but for posts that I've found helpful it's a nice and easy way to acknowledge the poster.

[Protools5LEGuy]

Another good motive for implementing the like button is that all users are less prone to receive a meme from me as answer

[indibil]

You already know that I am in favor of the like button. I consider it favorable because in current times, those of us who are fans of old hardware, as they say in Spanish "we already have gray hair", and many times life does not give you time to investigate or delve into everything we want, we see a post with very interesting information but that requires spending time if you want to apply it, they are not cooking recipes, they are sometimes engineering projects. So you can't just write and leave a comment, because you need to reread it and have a calm moment to understand it and ask questions. Then a "like" shows the author that you like their work, that you appreciate it, and then I save the link, I subscribe so as not to lose the thread, and when my life allows me to dedicate time to it, I will return there and then I will raise my questions. doubts or my results.

I'm going to give an example, do you know the series "Dark" that aired on Netflix? I liked it a lot, but it is a series that you have to watch calmly, follow the thread so as not to lose the plot. Well, its creators released another series of the style. 1899. The first season aired on Netflix and its continuation was canceled. The reason? Well, Netflix counts the success of the series in the number of views in the first week of broadcast. Since Dark fans knew that by 1899 they had to pay attention, they waited for a "good" moment to see it, and since that moment was after the first week, the series was canceled. If the series had had a "like" button, fans would surely have gotten tired of clicking the button, and later would have looked for the perfect time to watch it. But since Netflix did not receive feedback on what 1899 meant for its subscribers, it canceled it "believing" that it was not liked.

A survey of the average age of the users would be needed to see that we are not a usual control group, we are a profile of ages and tastes anchored in the year 2000 (I say this for OS9).

Thank you for the effort you make in keeping the forum active.

[DrNo7]

Same here: it can be a useful way sometimes to agree with a comment without repeating it or just share appreciation without a fanboy post. That will/shouldn't replace a comment when there is something to add.

For example, I would have used the button on PT5LEG's post because it summarize what I would have replied

If the wording of the button is to be different, technically there should be 2 of them (the main use-cases): "agree" and "thanks". The wording may vary but that's the kind of constructive feedback that would save a thread rhythm by not being expressed among contributions to the main topic.

[indibil]

Same here: it can be a useful way sometimes to agree with a comment without repeating it or just share appreciation without a fanboy post. That will/shouldn't replace a comment when there is something to add.

For example, I would have used the button on PT5LEG's post because it summarize what I would have replied

If the wording of the button is to be different, technically there should be 2 of them (the main use-cases): "agree" and "thanks". The wording may vary but that's the kind of constructive feedback that would save a thread rhythm by not being expressed among contributions to the main topic.

I was just going to add this, perhaps the "thanks" button is less social media, I don't know if I've ever seen this button.

[Knezzen]

For example, I would have used the button on PT5LEG's post because it summarize what I would have replied

Yeah, it's very convenient but this is exactly the problem IMO. People in general only press the like button and don't take time to form their own answer. The like button substitutes a real answer in text and discussions slow down to a halt.

[IIO]

You have to really screw a conversation to have no likes.

i am very thrifty with pressing the "like" button in forums like this.

it can make sense to express "i agree, i would have said the same" (i.e. upvote that one answer of which you think is the only right one among many posts to support the questioner) or eventually say "thanks" when someone obviously put a lot of effort into whatever.

but imho people tend ot overuse things like that, and for example always give a like when a post seems to be constructive, clever, funny, arbitraring disputes, the first post of a new user and so on, and sometimes also only because the weather is good. then it stops making sense because it simply says nothing.

i always compare the situation with giving tips in gastronomy. unlike in the US, in germany the "official" rule about tip is that you only give tip to waiters or other staff members for extraordinary extra services, but in practice almost everyone who can afford it gives like 5-10% in order to not stand out unpleasantly.

[Bolkonskij]

Society is moving in the wrong direction anyway. "Buttons" are part of this. Interaction, the human element in general, is already too often reduced to "being liked" or not – with a simple click. I consider this "self-expression", the  reduction to feelings, to be really harmful. There should be no place for ratings in a forum like this. Good conversations and appreciative interaction will not come about through evaluations and a supposedly increased sense of self-worth ascribed by others. I find buttons seriously socio-politically dangerous and have therefore never used them. I would be delighted if the forum could do without them again in future.

I fully agree with you on that one too. No need for a like button for me, as ssp3 said, it's the interaction between the users that make a forum a forum.

[Jubadub]

Ugh. This decision is not as easy, nor as black-and-white, as it can seem. Personally, I'm very torn over this one: There are very good reasons to include it, and very good reasons not to include it.

What can I say? Everyone here, on both camps, is right: on one hand, it can dilute the quality of discussion, and "dumb it down". On the other hand, it is a positive tool for acknowledgement of something without "side-tracking" the main discussion. Both points are true. We have no "right" or "wrong" answer here based on technicality alone.

You have to really screw a conversation to have no likes.

No. A conversation or, to be more precise, thread comments can go without a "Like" also simply because of not many people reading the thread, or the comment, even when you make a quality post or cover new ground that is, actually, appreciated. Another issue is that using "Like" requires a logged-in user, so even if you have your "admirers", they are "ghost admirers" who cannot express that they "Like" your posts. So @ssp3 actually has a point with that.

=====================

Personally, what I can say to contribute to this decision is our history:

I think the "Like" feature was added sometime around late 2019, perhaps a bit before or a bit later. Obviously, the forum functioned perfectly well without it for all this while.

When the "Like" feature and button were finally introduced, I feel as if it was mostly well-received, silently, and well-appreciated. In general, I think it brought more good than harm. Admitedly, I grew fond of it, as well, and I don't think it made me participate less, whether my posts were getting liked or not. It did make me show appreciation for people's posts which, otherwise, I would have said nothing in place if no "Like" system had been implemented. Of course, if there was something I REALLY liked, then I would say/write it, AND add the "Like" while at it (if the "Like" function is available).

So, in short, I think the "Like" feature served us well in practice, in helping us express ourselves a bit better, with minor drawbacks like others pointed out. Maybe we could have "misused" it, but from what I saw, it seemed to be used "correctly", unlike the braindead FaceBook et al. stuff.

Simultaneously... @Mat and the others are also right. It's really tough: there is no "right" decision, because we WILL have a tradeoff, be it one way or another. Which one is more worth it? I don't know.

But what I DO know is that we will be fine eitherway: we were fine before it was implemented, and we were fine during the time it was around, as well, so my conviction on this is 100% unshaken.

So I honestly leave this decision to all you guys, and you can count me as "neutral" on this. Maybe I slightly lean towards having it back, but honestly I'm completely fine with it eitherway. It's not that "I don't care", as the poll suggests, but rather "I care so much that I know we are fine eitherway, and there's not one uniquely-correct choice".

TL;DR I voted on "I don't care.".

[DieHard]

Of course I "Like" it, that is why I added it.  I did not want to integrate/inject social media Mods, so the like button was kinda a compromise.  It's a tool, nothing more, where members can instantly get feedback (when another member thinks a one word post is too tedious), also it enables members to see what other members value the same topic; again, just a tool, if it's there and you want to use it great !  If not, fine, leave it hanging on the wall, a controversy is not needed on this one. Just add it and some may use it, some won't, "analysis paralysis" ins't really helping us on this one guys