Like/Dislike for Threads

[syntic]

I don't understand the reason for adding this function of liking or disliking a thread (or even the thumbs up or thumbs down option). Gaia shouldn't be a popularity contest, but it really has boiled down to such an idea, and I really do find it distasteful.

Not only does the function create spam, but it also creates an unsafe place for people; not only are their avatars judged, but also their ideas and freedom of speech with every post and every thread they create.

I'd like to suggest removing this feature, so that people can concentrate on each thread's content regardless of people liking or disliking the topic.

[Covaxe]

I agree, it should be removed. I can understand it being in like the petitions forum. But for like the chatterbox and whatnot..it really has no place.

[syntic]

@ Covaxe:
Hmm, yes. Using it for the petition forum would definitely put the feature into good use, so Gaia wouldn't have to scrap the idea completely.

[Plaid Cushion]

Um. What?

Unless its a really popular thread (Of which there usually aren't many in most forums) you can't see the like/dislike count until you enter the topic, at which stage you might as well read it. I doubt people outside of the silly/very non-serious forums see how much the thread was liked/disliked and exit the thread again, or vote for it entirely on the basis of the OP's avatar. I'm most drawn to recently posted topics with only a couple of pages max so I don't have to do a lot of backreading- I imagine a lot of others are the same way, and young threads aren't going to get as many ratings as older threads. This doesn't dent their popularity.

Also, your posts are all being judged anyway by everyone who reads them. If they're super good, you might get a tip from a nice Gaian who enjoyed it. There is no dislike button for plain old posts.

It might as well be a counter for how many people agree or disagree with your viewpoint. If you're posting a topic and expecting everyone to agree with you, then you're going to get just as upset when they verbalise their disagreement as when they dislike your thread. Nothing has really changed; it just shows how many people agree/disagree in larger threads and caters to lurkers a little more.

I would really like to know how this feature causes spam.

[Jekkceo]

I like it because I can see how others have voted and it usually gives me a good idea of how the Op has presented there case

[Lady Kayura]

Jekkceo

I like it because I can see how others have voted and it usually gives me a good idea of how the Op has presented there case

I'd hope you'd read the OP and form your opinion before thinking about how others are thinking.

[Jekkceo]

Lady Kayura

Jekkceo

I like it because I can see how others have voted and it usually gives me a good idea of how the Op has presented there case

I'd hope you'd read the OP and form your opinion before thinking about how others are thinking.

I do it gives me a feel of wither or not the thread has raised many points that have gotten people to think about the OP or not

[Lady Kayura]

Jekkceo

I do it gives me a feel of wither or not the thread has raised many points that have gotten people to think about the OP or not

But even if the count is small, that doesn't mean it hasn't gotten people to think. And punctuation would make your posts much easier to read, unless you want them read like a run on sentence.

[HighClass Badass]

No thanks, I like the feature =3

[syntic]

Plaid Cushion

Um. What?

Unless its a really popular thread (Of which there usually aren't many in most forums) you can't see the like/dislike count until you enter the topic, at which stage you might as well read it. I doubt people outside of the silly/very non-serious forums see how much the thread was liked/disliked and exit the thread again, or vote for it entirely on the basis of the OP's avatar. I'm most drawn to recently posted topics with only a couple of pages max so I don't have to do a lot of backreading- I imagine a lot of others are the same way, and young threads aren't going to get as many ratings as older threads. This doesn't dent their popularity.

Also, your posts are all being judged anyway by everyone who reads them. If they're super good, you might get a tip from a nice Gaian who enjoyed it. There is no dislike button for plain old posts.

It might as well be a counter for how many people agree or disagree with your viewpoint. If you're posting a topic and expecting everyone to agree with you, then you're going to get just as upset when they verbalise their disagreement as when they dislike your thread. Nothing has really changed; it just shows how many people agree/disagree in larger threads and caters to lurkers a little more.

I would really like to know how this feature causes spam.

That's exactly the function the like/dislike button provides: popularity of a thread regardless of content. And yes, there are some people who do go into a thread just to hit the dislike button.

I know of many topics that must be backtracked in order for people to understand what was happening, or what led up to whatever that happened... They're disorganized threads, but they are considered popular because of the amount of replies/comments, and pages they have accumulated. However, the dislike/like button doesn't do a single thing to help these topics at all (or even young/small threads for that matter). They provide no genuine feedback and how to go about improving a thread or topic. A person can enter a thread, look at the content, decide that they don't like it, vote the dislike button, and leave and you won't ever know their opinion because they don't post what they think and why exactly they disliked it. This is spam. There is no sharing of ideas, no words, no interaction.

It's true that they may not vote solely on how a avatar in that thread looks, but that doesn't mean people don't do it.

The dislike/like voting also creates cyber-bullying. I'm not sure if you're aware, but peoples threads has been voted down due to someone not liking the other person. This could range from blacklisting a person to just not liking them for whatever reason (could even be irl reasons). They get their friends to vote down a thread as well.

Again, true that all posts are being judged, but the difference here is that no one is taking gold away from you for disliking your post. The tipping function serves as an incentive for people, but it doesn't harm them.

I do understand your point, but it's really more the issue of people's safety and finding Gaia an enjoyable place rather than expecting people to agree with me.

[Covaxe]

You know what's a popular thread? One with lots of pages. You don't need the <3's and </3's to know if it's popular or not, they only show whether or not people like what's being said. And then you're getting judged.

You can usually tell what the topic is by the title..and that should be all you need. It's not a listing on amazon or whatever and you need to know if this seller is trust worthy or you lose your money or something o.e And the threads don't go away if they have a buncha hearts like a comment on youtube with to many thumbs down (not sure if they still do that).

[syntic]

Covaxe

You know what's a popular thread? One with lots of pages. You don't need the <3's and </3's to know if it's popular or not, they only show whether or not people like what's being said. And then you're getting judged.

You can usually tell what the topic is by the title..and that should be all you need. It's not a listing on amazon or whatever and you need to know if this seller is trust worthy or you lose your money or something o.e And the threads don't go away if they have a buncha hearts like a comment on youtube with to many thumbs down (not sure if they still do that).

Yes, those threads are difficult to come by now-a-days, what with everyone constantly moving threads... Some titles can be misleading, and not everyone's going to know what you're talking about if someone just wrote, "THREAD OPEN! 8 DDDDD". People write things in their titles to draw others in, but it's not always what you expect when you run with it.

Yeah, threads aren't hidden if someone dislikes a thread to an outstanding extent (it would be awful if that happened), but then there is still no real purpose to the like/dislike button...

[Covaxe]

syntic

Covaxe

You know what's a popular thread? One with lots of pages. You don't need the <3's and </3's to know if it's popular or not, they only show whether or not people like what's being said. And then you're getting judged.

You can usually tell what the topic is by the title..and that should be all you need. It's not a listing on amazon or whatever and you need to know if this seller is trust worthy or you lose your money or something o.e And the threads don't go away if they have a buncha hearts like a comment on youtube with to many thumbs down (not sure if they still do that).

Yes, those threads are difficult to come by now-a-days, what with everyone constantly moving threads... Some titles can be misleading, and not everyone's going to know what you're talking about if someone just wrote, "THREAD OPEN! 8 DDDDD". People write things in their titles to draw others in, but it's not always what you expect when you run with it.

Yeah, threads aren't hidden if someone dislikes a thread to an outstanding extent (it would be awful if that happened), but then there is still no real purpose to the like/dislike button...

The CB continues to have a few threads that just wont die.

But it would take time or have to have a more specific name to get the people in who like it to vote and give it <3's. The time it takes for the thread to get those hearts, the title will no longer be, "THREAD OPEN" or "GRAND OPENING". The hearts accomplish nothing at the early stages and only show the obvious at the later ones

[syntic]

Covaxe

The CB continues to have a few threads that just wont die.

But it would take time or have to have a more specific name to get the people in who like it to vote and give it <3's. The time it takes for the thread to get those hearts, the title will no longer be, "THREAD OPEN" or "GRAND OPENING". The hearts accomplish nothing at the early stages and only show the obvious at the later ones

Haha, I remember CB being a place for people to earn gold without spamming serious threads, and that bumping was looked down upon, but things really have changed since then. Perhaps, people just have an attachment to those threads.

Oh, true enough.

[Gundamu]

You are aware that we already had this system before and that what you see now is just a revamped one, right? Instead of <3 and </3 it was thumbs up/down.