It would be nice to see a way for members to give quick props on posts they like, similar to Facebook's "Like" button. Several of the forums I frequent have a similar model, calling it various things.
Sometimes, all a reader wants to do is give a thumbs-up to indicate agreement with a post. A button or link allowing this kind of nod would let readers show support for a poster while avoiding thread-cluttering, generic "I agree!" and "Me, too!" posts.
I Like/I Agree/Thumbs Up
Paul
I agree too. We've talked about adding it to the Garden Watchdog reviews and to photos in PlantFiles as well.
See? I was just looking for the "like" button. Facebook has us well-trained. It really is an ingenious little tweak.
:-)
That would be very nice.
Josephine.
We have felt it in some of our posts, but I'm glad Kimberley has brought it up in a separate thread here. She is right. Facebook has made us look for the 'like' button in many places as well!
Like button would be great..
StillPlaysWDirt likes this.
Adding a Like buton to the Garden Watchdog reviews and to photos in PlantFiles
would be fine. Adding it to posts in conversational threads would be a Thumbs Down
from me.
I agree. I've seen that elsewhere and don't like it.
Here! Here!
It might be o.k. if it was inconspicuous.
Here too, also. :)
I just splurged and react to my membership for a year. This was in my watched threads from 2013! I still think about this.
To me, it's an unobtrusive way to indicate support without having a bunch of "Me, too!" replies cluttering up a thread.
A definite thumbs down for me. This isn't Facebook.
I felt like searching for the 'like' button to gardenwife's post!
"Like" also will mean "Seen/Read".
I am with Gardenwife. It would be nice to have a button...
Larkie
I'm in agreement. There are times I just want to give an acknowledgement, but I have nothing to add to the conversation. We're looking at a way to add it, and make it unobtrusive for those who don't want to use it, but easy for those who do :-)
I don't see this making us like Facebook, primarily because their format is so fundamentally different (FB is centered around what you post to "your" wall, where it may - or may not- join the newsfeed stream seen by your friends.) Here, it is - and has always been - about starting or joining a conversation where you may (or may not) know anyone else participating in the discussion, and making acquaintances with others who enter the discussion.
I'd hope there would be an option not to use it. Or if mandatory it be a tiny "like"
to click on under the post intended to be "liked" as it is in Facebook. A big Thumbs
Up graphic that gets repeated 20 times on any given page would send me fleeing.
I'd hope there would be an option not to use it. Or if mandatory it be a tiny "like"
to click on under the post intended to be "liked" as it is in Facebook. A big Thumbs
Up graphic that gets repeated 20 times on any given page would send me fleeing.
I was doing something wrong...
I can see what you did, Sally, and that would be OK with me. I only belong
primarily to one group and we have real conversations and respond to one
another so "liking" would be a bit silly there but that's just my opinion.
I do not like the idea, even in the Watchdog reviews. For example: a negative review gets a lot of likes by members, does this make the reviewer with a positive experience less valuable? Some companies stink. Overall it shows and people will avoid the company. But if I was thinking of buying from an unfamiliar company, I might want to consider the minority opinions, good or bad. Online reviews are a tricky thing. I was about flabbergasted when I learned companies hire people to write good reviews about them.
Is it appropriate in the PlantFiles' photos or any other Files here? Isn't it more for information's sake than any opinions on the quality of the photo?
I admit, I would "like" someone's photos now and again within discussion forums. I do on a birding forum. But as I read often on a blog site's help forum in response to all these likes..."Comments are gold." Likes are so overused and to type out appreciation means a whole lot more.
I can see some situations where it may be appropriate, but I also see the potential for abuse. One forum I belong to, it really changed the dynamics of the site when they added "likes" to the mix. There's still plenty of good discussion, but now some are centered on how many likes they can get.
On Amazon, you can flag a review for being helpful (thumbs up) or unhelpful (thumbs down). They use this to show you the most helpful positive AND negative reviews.
Being able to do likewise in Garden Watchdog and Plantfiles would be useful, I think. A negative review that talked about how their plants died after they planted them in the ground in July and went away for 2 weeks (no water) would get a "not helpful" from me, as would a positive review that provided no details other than "great company!" or "beautiful flower!" And I'd flag as "helpful" those reviews that provided specific comment, critiques, and useful clarifications.
I wouldn't object to having the Thumbs Up on Garden Watchdog and Plant files, but not elsewhere in DG threads. Facebook long ago did away with Thumbs Down. There now is just a Like button option in Facebook and in a sidebar there is an option to hide a post or report it for whatever reason.
This message was edited Sep 3, 2015 11:53 PM
I really would be self conscience abt posting if every post could be judged. Also, what's useful to one person may not be useful to another.
We have talked about implementing this, and your points are all well-taken. There are some pros to having comments "up voted" as being most helpful, and that's probably how we'll approach it, rather than up/down vote.
I'm really not for it on the Threads. I believe it could cause "problems" and we are supposed to be a community.
It would be useful to have the most helpful comments about a plant or the most helpful reviews of a company floated to the top of the list. With Garden Watchdog, I'd like an opportunity to switch between seeing the most helpful reviews or seeing the most recent reviews -- both are valuable.
For what it's worth, I vote NO to Thumbs of any kind. Why do we need to be like other websites?
For what it's worth, I vote NO to Thumbs of any kind. Why do we need to be like other websites?
It was simply an opinion. :)
And we welcome them all. Sometimes an opinion opens the door to a discussion :-).
True. :)
I have mixed feelings all the way around.
I can see advantages in some situations for a "pro" button, but there are some disadvantages, IMO. Some of those have already been posted.
Here's another one: This example is photography, but it could apply to some other situations.
Suppose someone is great at photography and takes beautiful pictures of birds or flowers or maybe they just see lots of unusual birds or flowers or insects that others don't have the opportunity to see. They might get tons of "thumbs up" or "likes" which is a great way to show them you enjoyed their pictures.
But suppose someone else is really excited to post some pictures they took of some common birds in their backyard. Maybe the quality of the photo isn't that great or maybe it's even terrible, but they're thrilled to have caught the shot and want to show other people. Does that mean they should get a bunch of thumbs down or, maybe worse, be ignored and get nothing?
Everyone likes to get compliments. It's human nature, but if someone isn't winning the "thumbs up" popularity contest it doesn't necessarily mean they're a jerk and could make the DG experience less than enjoyable for some.
Based on most posts, I know I'm in the minority on this, but I figured I might as well give my opinion.
Yes, it can easily become a popularity contest of sorts. :(
Here's another one: This example is photography, but it could apply to some other situations.
Suppose someone is great at photography and takes beautiful pictures of birds or flowers or maybe they just see lots of unusual birds or flowers or insects that others don't have the opportunity to see. They might get tons of "thumbs up" or "likes" which is a great way to show them you enjoyed their pictures.
But suppose someone else is really excited to post some pictures they took of some common birds in their backyard. Maybe the quality of the photo isn't that great or maybe it's even terrible, but they're thrilled to have caught the shot and want to show other people. Does that mean they should get a bunch of thumbs down or, maybe worse, be ignored and get nothing?
Everyone likes to get compliments. It's human nature, but if someone isn't winning the "thumbs up" popularity contest it doesn't necessarily mean they're a jerk and could make the DG experience less than enjoyable for some.
I totally agree with Cville_Gardener and Chillybean.
