# Thought about a "Like" feature? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 4, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549 "2011-10-04T14:15:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/1 "2011-10-04T14:15:23Z")
Believe it or not, I don’t post _everything_ that slips into my head. Like most people, I actually try to weigh whether a comment is going to add what I think I want to add to a thread. But I have a really hard time not responding with positive feedback when someone gets in a really good turn of phrase, makes a really obscure reference that I recognize, etc. because I don’t want to derail the thread just to chime in with “Bravo, sir!” or “Me Too!” Lots of blogs have a “Like” button that really does nothing but keep a tally of folks who want to give a particular post a thumbs-up or return a sly wink, but who also don’t really have anything germaine to add. I wonder if Dopers would appreciate such a thing here. Jokers & philosophizers could get their affirmations (or not, thereby possibly curbing their behavior) and the noise/signal ratio would improve. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/2 "2011-10-04T14:20:11Z")
[del]Like.[/del] ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/3 "2011-10-04T14:21:58Z")
It’s been discussed – as I remember, it was quite a heated discussion. But I don’t think this version of vB supports such a thing anyway so even if it was something that we would want to do I’m not sure we could do it, not at the present time, anyway. Your point is taken, though. People do tend to get irritated at seeing posts that say nothing but “this” or “me too.” Maybe we need to come up with some better catchphrase for that situation. I’ve always liked “I agree with Mr. Johnson” from _Blazing Saddles_, though not everyone would get the reference, I’m sure. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/4 "2011-10-04T14:27:18Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > It’s been discussed – as I remember, it was quite a heated discussion. I had no idea. Maybe we could have some kind of function that allows users to search old threads for certain keywords? That might have been useful in this instance. Anyway, if it’s not something that could be done even if it was wanted, and as it’s already been discussed…may as well lock this one away and stick it in the closet with my better MPSIMS threads. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/5 "2011-10-04T15:21:22Z")
Inigo Johnson is right! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/6 "2011-10-04T15:25:48Z")
Only bad people want Like buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/7 "2011-10-04T15:42:42Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Inigo Johnson is right! Hal Johnson is right about Inigo Johnson being right! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/8 "2011-10-04T15:46:17Z")
[del]Like.[/del] ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/9 "2011-10-04T15:48:13Z")
Howzabout a “You Suck” button? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/10 "2011-10-04T15:57:17Z")
I’d be all for thumbs up/down buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/11 "2011-10-04T16:08:17Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I’d be all for thumbs up/down buttons. _That’ll_ stimulate intelligent conversation. I’m opposed to like/dislike buttons because they say even less than “I agree with what you say” responses. Does the poster like/dislike the whole argument? Most of the argument? The person making the argument? Why? My suggestion is that if you agree with what someone has to say, let them know why, and if you don’t want to go through this very slight effort…just nod your head and move on to the next post. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/12 "2011-10-04T16:39:22Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Howzabout a “You Suck” button? I LIKE this. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/13 "2011-10-04T17:11:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > _That’ll_ stimulate intelligent conversation. > I’m opposed to like/dislike buttons because they say even less than “I agree with what you say” responses. Does the poster like/dislike the whole argument? Most of the argument? The person making the argument? Why? My suggestion is that if you agree with what someone has to say, let them know why, and if you don’t want to go through this very slight effort…just nod your head and move on to the next post. They serve different purposes. There’s not really any point to writing a paragraph about how witty a pun zinger was, or how much you want to roll your eyes at a stupid troll. But there is great satisfaction in giving/taking brownie points for these sorts of moments. And it’s really great feedback for people trying to get an idea of how their posts are coming off. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/14 "2011-10-04T18:42:06Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Inigo Johnson is right! I agree with Hal Johnson! ---
**Author:** ![Consensus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@Consensus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consensus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/15 "2011-10-04T18:57:24Z")
Been on a few forums(or boards as you call them) where they have a reputation system. It’s just a simple thumbs up or down combined with a short pm to the poster in question. This results in a reputation bar that gives an indication of how much reputation a member has recieved. The higer the bar of a member the higer the amount of rep is given when this member hands out reputation to others. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/16 "2011-10-04T18:59:48Z")
> [@Consensus](#): > > Been on a few forums(or boards as you call them) where they have a reputation system. It’s just a simple thumbs up or down combined with a short pm to the poster in question. > > This results in a reputation bar that gives an indication of how much reputation a member has recieved. The higer the bar of a member the higer the amount of rep is given when this member hands out reputation to others. So we should let a popularity contest decide for us whether or not a poster’s argument is valid? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/17 "2011-10-04T19:21:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > So we should let a popularity contest decide for us whether or not a poster’s argument is valid? How does having additional information take away your power to make decisions? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/18 "2011-10-04T19:24:04Z")
> [@Consensus](#): > > Been on a few forums(or boards as you call them) where they have a reputation system. It’s just a simple thumbs up or down combined with a short pm to the poster in question. > > This results in a reputation bar that gives an indication of how much reputation a member has recieved. The higer the bar of a member the higer the amount of rep is given when this member hands out reputation to others. And I post on a large board that lets you “thank” posts, and it is just a big circlejerk of people thanking their friends, their friends friends, and pretty much every bloody post they happen to read. Thousands upon thousands of meaningless thanks. Meh. Some people like those types of things. I don’t see the point personally. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/19 "2011-10-04T19:33:07Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > How does having additional information take away your power to make decisions? What additional information? That someone ticked off a few posters in the past so that they make it a habit to go through his/her posts and hit the “dislike” button on all of them? The trouble with like/dislike buttons is that at first sight someone can look _very_ popular or unpopular until some investigation is done to find out that it’s always the same people doing the clicking out of some misguided sense of loyalty. If someone is presenting evidence to support a theory, in what way should “_45 people disliked this post_” be a factor in deciding whether I support the theory put forth? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549/20 "2011-10-04T21:45:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What additional information? That someone ticked off a few posters in the past so that they make it a habit to go through his/her posts and hit the “dislike” button on all of them? The trouble with like/dislike buttons is that at first sight someone can look _very_ popular or unpopular until some investigation is done to find out that it’s always the same people doing the clicking out of some misguided sense of loyalty. If someone is presenting evidence to support a theory, in what way should “_45 people disliked this post_” be a factor in deciding whether I support the theory put forth? I agree with **Czarcasm** (Johnson) here. The thumbs up/down thing isn’t actually giving you any meaningful information for the discussion. This is a discussion group, and as such I’d prefer replies with actual content. It’s no big deal though, if they are desired by the majority and come to pass I’ll probably just ignore them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thought-about-a-like-feature/598549.md?page=2)