Topic: Like/heart/yeah function for forum posts

A lot other forums and sites have the ability to "like"/react to (or "yeah" as it was on Miiverse) forum posts in addition to article comments; adding this function here could help promote engagement and just add a layer of fun to the forum experience.

Just a thought; as someone who's also on places like VGChartz/Famiboards/IGN, it's absence here sticks out a bit in comparison.

The only problem with that is you can get favoritism. Honestly the best way to promote engagement is just reply to the thread.

I think this would be useful for when you want to show appreciation for a post but don't have anything to add with a reply. I like the idea of using 'Yeah' as a nod to Miiverse.

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@curl-6 No way! The whole Like system feeds negativity, incentivizes people to one-up each other, feeds addiction to likes, and totatlly changes how people act. These are cornerstones of why internet is toxic. I think lack-of-Likes on NL forum is part of why it's a nicer place place to be. And I think that's been NL's logic for why they haven't added likes in here.

There are people who will post for likes, and I don't think we need those kind of posts. If you have smoething constructive to contribute, you comment/reply. This is also why NL will prompt you and prevent posting short 2-3 word posts in the forum. I'm not saying this format is perfect, but I accept the compromise for the health of the forum in the long run.

@WoomyNNYes I don't have experience of other forums that use a 'Like' system, but I wouldn't be too worried about people just 'posting for Likes'. A forum comment becomes old news pretty quickly, it's not like the Comments sections on articles that will always share the same page and prominence with the article indefinitely. I'd have thought most forum posts would be lucky to attract more than 5 likes, even if you pulled out one of your zingers, just because the browsing experience differs.

Despite my post above, I'm not particularly bothered either way on this issue, but I wouldn't expect it to have much of a negative impact.

I might be wrong, but I think this is the reason Ant gave a while back on this feature.

Ooh, is it kind of bad I really would not want a like or dislike system implemented in the forums? It really just makes people addicted to attention and validation, and some people would just post and say stuff to get likes rather than saying something that would contribute to the conversation. I have seen how some people act on forums when their stuff gets downvoted or if no one agrees with what they say, and for some people who care a lot about the like and dislike system, might feel very bad, discouraged, and negative if someone else outdoes them with likes, or if they get disliked a lot for no reason. I cannot imagine how flooded the forums would be with people saying random nonsense if they did implement likes on forums. While I do think like and dislike systems can help with figuring out what content is good or bad (like on YouTube, which is flooded with garbage and I always found it nonsensical that they hid dislike counts from the public) I think like and dislike systems on forums is usually handled way worse than the ones you find on video sites. If I did come off as rude in my opinion, I am sorry.

I do think that likes and dislikes maybe could work on the forums if they are handled right and if no users try to exploit it, but unfortunately, the like and dislike system causes a lot of people online to act in ways, mostly since the internet has a huge focus on getting big, validation, and getting likes.

@curl-6 Forgive me for starting my previous comment to you with "No way!". I didn't mean for that to look aggressive. I see you're new here and don't know me.😉 Welcome!

I agree with @Pastellioli - I do not actually want this. We don't need more places to get more spikes in dopamine online. As he also highlighted, it can lead people to wondering if they said something wrong, or why their comment got no likes, but the next post got tons. Mentally, I do not think it is healthy. Personally, if I do say something that someone agrees with or wants to engage with me properly, to add their thoughts, I would prefer that anyday. Builds a better community sense. That makes me feel like I am part of this far more than some likes.

No, thank you. As someone above me said, it would make people toxic and try to one-up each other by insulting them or by other means. That's been a problem in Reddit, Twitter, etc. People on the web are addicted to receiving likes or getting attention.

I’m happy the way it is, and I really like that there isn’t dislikes viewable as well. If someone disagrees with you they say it not just click the dislike. The like and dislike system just makes the environment more friendly imo.

Imagine when people start creating threads for NLikes farming.

That’s when you know a site’s made it.

Nah, I like it the way it is & to keep it simple.

What I find kinda odd is that the user who wants this option made this thread after joining the site 15 minutes beforehand. I mean if this forum doesnt have that feature why join just to ask for a feature thats not neccessary? Just strikes me odd.

I disagree. Yes that happens on social media but on forums that have this is doesn't really play out like that. It's really more just a way for people not involved in a discussion to tilt the scales in one way or another. To highlight that one post in the chain which was constructive

Although I might be biased because on the places where this does exist my posts are very often naturally boosted

.... also it's a bit odd IMO to talk about toxic features when users literally have the ability to block other users from seeing them on the site entirely