Introducing "like and dislike" to the forum

[Royal Cap]

First of all, I want to say that this is not a social media. This is a forum. Here we share our personal opinions. We do not share anyone's lifestyle. So from that point of view, there is no question of like or dislike here.
But if you notice another thing, you will see that now the dislike feature is being removed from almost all social media. If we talk about YouTube, the dislike button is not there on YouTube. If you like the video, then like it. And if you don't like it, then don't like it.

Similarly, in our forum, if you like someone's post, then you give him merit. And if you don't like someone's post, you don't give him merit. And if he abuses something, just report it to the moderator.

I read the above discussion and saw that this proposal is not new. This proposal was made about 12 years ago and ultimately it was not implemented. Instead, the merit system was implemented. So I don't think this will ever be implemented or this feature is needed.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

It's never going to be implemented if that is what you hope for, OP. As far as I recall, you are not the first person to make such a suggestion, and there are others who even talked about the upvoting and downvoting as well.

The merit system should just be fine for now. Adding other extra features that almost do the same thing will just render merits useless, and as an admin of the forum, you don't want that to happen.

[Upgrade00]

It has been a long time since I saw this suggestion. Suggestions generally on ways to make the forum better have thinned out, I guess we are all settling for it as it is.

Op, the forum is designed for conversations. If anyone likes or dislikes your post, they can express it through their response to it or by meriting it cause they found it high quality. The forum runs on interactions, not impressions.

[dkbit98]

No, I don't want to have Like and Dislike buttons in bitcointalk forum.
If someone really wants to create this on top of bitcointalk he can do it with some userscript, but I won't be using it.
It's not that hard to simply write a post if you like or dislike something, this is why forum still exists.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

This has been on my mind for some time now, I really think it's a good idea, the "like and dislike" won't really count for anything its just a kind of check as to how reasonable people find your opinions.

I don't see any reasonable reason for the forum to introduce such a feature man, where we already have the merit system and the ability to reply to a post or comment stating our agreement or disagreement, a like and dislike feature will be or is utterly useless.
This is not to talk about the fact that such a feature may likely end up discouraging or lowering posts engagements, in the sense that where a user should reply to a post stating their agreement or disagreement and reason behind their choice, they will choose to rather like or dislike the post and move on to the next one, this will do nothing but create confusion over time, and I guess you know the type of confusion I am talking about.

[KingsDen]

Once in a while we'll see similar proposals. This is common with newbies from the social media (facebook) background. I made similar proposal when I was new - An Alternative to merit . The difference is that I did present some reasons why I felt a "like" button was necessary then, unlike Op. But 5 years in the forum, I acknowledge that it was a shitty idea

If theymos implement all suggestions, we would have;

• Merit and demerit
• Like and dislike
• Upvote and downvote
• Reporter's badges
• Annual award badges

In years to come, Op would understand why his idea is not supported by anyone.

[notocactus]

You are over a dozen years late.  :/   "Like" turned into "merit".

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=622992.0

"Like" a good and quality post that is helpful for OP or forum community is a good use of merit while there are other uses of "like" such as liking funny posts, then a more severely wrong use by liking posts of referrals.

It's how the merit system has declined in its effectiveness of controlling spam and preventing spammers to rank up in recent years. There is a need of rejiggering the merit system.

I'm still thinking about ways to resolve this issue, possibly involving rejiggering how merit works.

[LogitechMouse]

This has been on my mind for some time now, I really think it's a good idea, the "like and dislike" won't really count for anything its just a kind of check as to how reasonable people find your opinions.

Like = Send merit
Dislike = Ignore the post.

There's no need to implement a "like and dislike" button, and this is the reason why sometimes, we need to let our intrusive thoughts to not be publicized. Now look at the response of the community OP. I appreciate the suggestions though because this adds additional ideas on what COULD improve on the forum. Unfortunately this is one idea that many don't appreciate.

Lock the thread already OP if possible. Just think of it. There are already 211 users who viewed your thread by the time I'm making this post. If that would be implemented, maybe around 200 will dislike your thread.

[Vod]

But if you notice another thing, you will see that now the dislike feature is being removed from almost all social media.

Yep.  I'm not sure if it's a woke thing or what, but society is turning away from labelled anything as bad/unliked.   ShadowPulse was the same way - I started out with 1-10 voting, then I moved to +/- voting, finally I just decided on +pulse, and no negative.

People are much more likely to dislike something when they are angry, and it's not reciprocal.  Besides, people nowadays will tell you to your face what they think of you - they don't do rumors or ratings.

[EarnOnVictor]

Sorry but it’s a shitty idea,  we already have the best way to appreciate a post and it’s the merits which to me is still a better idea.

Are you sure it's a shitty idea or you just have a shitty view and response to it?

Merit system has never been perfect. And let me tell you for free, many people would like and appreciate a user's post, but would be reluctant to hand a merit. Do you know why? Merit is "too" precious the way it's structure. Handling a "like" would still show appreciation, even though it may not support account growth. That doesn't look shitty to me.

The "dislike" is what I don't buy. It could be used as a weapon by some immature people.

[Yablee0]

I can understand your effort to make this forum a more better place. But as you can see we already have other means of appreciating quality post which is the merit system. Introducing a like and dislike system will only contradict things the more and even probably affect the engagement of each thread which a believe wouldn't be healthy for the community. Like i said earlier, your input so far is commendable, but this is absolutely unacceptable.

[Hewlet]

This has been on my mind for some time now, I really think it's a good idea, the "like and dislike" won't really count for anything its just a kind of check as to how reasonable people find your opinions.

Imagine that in a post you are getting a like, a dislike and probably a merit since you can't control individuals view on you thread, wouldn't it be too messy for the forum?

It is better to advocate for more merit source than adding like and dislike to the forum. personally, i think that every board and sub board ought to have merit distributors in them including the politics and society board because there are still a lot of quality post in such board that are not getting merited.  

Merit system is already okay just that the merit source seams to be holding back or lets assume that they are not getting enough sendables that is proportionate to the numbers of quality post on the forum.

[LoyceV]

OP already got more virtual dislikes than he earned in Merit:

Sorry but it’s a shitty idea

I don't see any reason for that like/dislike feature.

Can I start by not liking your idea?

From my comment on this your thread it’s clear that I dislike your post

"Like" buttons are part of the algorithm designed to get users addicted to social media. Gluing users to their screen for increased ad revenue. Just one of many headlines about the subject: An unlikeable truth: Social media like buttons are designed to be addictive. They’re impacting our ability to think rationally.

[Joy- maker]

This has been on my mind for some time now, I really think it's a good idea, the "like and dislike" won't really count for anything its just a kind of check as to how reasonable people find your opinions.

I can recall seeing two users who suggested that theymos introduced the like and dislike options, but he hasn't made them available. I assume he doesn't find them necessary or consider them a patriot. IMO, the like and dislike options will make the forum look more like a social media platform, which could change its uniqueness. Bitcointalk is fine the way it is, and I believe it should maintain it traditional structure.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

It’s something that has been suggested every now and then by different people on the forum for years. I don’t feel particularly strongly about it either way but consensus amongst others is that it’s a bad idea. 

[alegotardo]

This has been on my mind for some time now, I really think it's a good idea, the "like and dislike" won't really count for anything its just a kind of check as to how reasonable people find your opinions.

I am trying to see both sides of this idea... we already have the merit system, which is an excellent tool to recognizing good contributions to forum and encouraging quality discussions.
But I do not think a "like/unlike" system would be bad to forum,  if you look at the impact this has on social media, you will notice that a simple interactions encourage people's participation. It is something "free" that does not interfere with anything and gives to users a feedback on how the community feels about what they wrote, without necessarily post a reply or "spend an sMerit" (which sometimes the person may not even have anymore).

I think it would be interesting to run some tests and try to find a balance between encouraging more interaction and not turning the forum into just another social network.

[m2017]

This has been on my mind for some time now, I really think it's a good idea, the "like and dislike" won't really count for anything its just a kind of check as to how reasonable people find your opinions.

Your post would have received my first "dislike" - if such a thing were even possible. The reason is that your point isn't fully fleshed out, leaving the reader to wonder: "what exactly was the OP trying to say here?".

Well, or simply because that’s what I felt like doing..

Why do you consider the concept of "likes" and "dislikes" to be a "genuinely good idea"? Where is your reasoning? Is it simply because they serve as an "indicator"?

This forum already has a "like" system, known as "merits". This "indicator" carries multiple meanings: it can signify that a reader finds the OP’s point "sensible", or it can simply function as a "like" - an expression of solidarity or personal affinity.

"Dislikes" have no place on this forum; it would only breed an abundance of negativity (of which there is already plenty), trigger confrontations, and foster destructive interactions (I recall some forum members even threatening to sue one another). Introducing "dislikes" would inject an overly emotional tone into our discussions, plunging the forum into a state of "micro-chaos". This would be especially problematic if "dislikes" were to strip users of their "merits" or lower their rank, just imagine that. It would turn this place into a full-blown "war zone".

That would have made a great April Fools' joke, Theymos.

the "like and dislike" won't really count for anything

Also, if it doesn't mean anything, then why even introducing it on the forum?

[Shishir99]

LOL.

I thought OP would come up with a userscript and store the like and dislike count for each post on his server or something like this. I am sure theymos won't even think about implementing something like this. So, if someone wants to do something, they need to create a service themselves, as Vod did with the shadowpulse thing a while ago. Also, we have seen dozens of usersscripts in the last few months. Everyone is a developer now with the help of AI.

[libert19]

I think, it will clutter the forum. Though, I also have thought along the lines to have some mechanism which allow you to express yourself without 'needing' anything, as in you don't need to earn merits to send 'em; this is why I don't think merit system is equivalent to what op is proposing for.

Everyone is a developer now with the help of AI.

I see, 'this tool was made using help of AI' and I instantly skip the topic. 

[EarnOnVictor]

I think, it will clutter the forum.

Clutter the forum, how?

I don't think it will clutter anything. Only a small space for its column would be created below "Activity and Merit," right below Merit specifically. And if admin likes, they could also tighten the gap between the Rank and the Activity. For me, there are enough space to take care of just an additional line added to users' profile. But the choice to add it is a different thing entirely.