Like- a new way to say Thanks

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Tdol

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The old system with the Thanks button has now been replaced by a link with the word Like. It serves the same purpose, so you can use it to thank someone or show agreement, etc, but has extra features- a thumb appears a the top of the page, which allow you to find popular posts in longer threads.

The rather excitable makers say that:
The "Likes" system allows your users to effortlessly provide feedback to one another on the content they find most useful. Most importantly, this activity creates an underlying layer of data that works as a "Social Graph" for your community, opening the doors to a myriad of USEFUL features that have the potential to alter the way we interact with forums in different ways.
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I'm probably in the minority, but I don't like the new system. It reminds me too much of Facebook, and the "heart" function seems a bit juvenile.

Just my opinion.
 
I agree with Jasmin, but the new system is more searchable.
 
Jasmin165 said:
I'm probably in the minority, but I don't like the new system. It reminds me too much of Facebook, and the "heart" function seems a bit juvenile.

Just my opinion.
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I doubt whether you'd be in the minority.
I wonder if there's a way to turn off being alerted to "private messages" every time someone "likes" your post.

PS: I can't wait to join those eight social sites to share all these posts I like so much!
 
Raymott said:
How is it more searchable?
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Additionally, clicking the Thumb at the top of a thread allows you to see the posts that are most liked within the thread. I'd have thought this would eb very useful in discovering the 'best' posts in a long discussion.
 
I like the new system, thank you. :-D I´ve been reading old posts lately and giving thanks/likes to those that I consider useful for me.

As birdeen´s call says, they´re more searchable now. It seems easier to consult them whenever you want.

The old system had only twenty pages available. That was insufficient for me. :)
 
Jasmin165 said:
I'm probably in the minority, but I don't like the new system. It reminds me too much of Facebook, and the "heart" function seems a bit juvenile.

Just my opinion.
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Perhaps not a minority; I'm with you. I dislike all this SN impedimenta.

b

PS It does make a kind of sense though. People (including me) were using the 'Thanks' button to show agreement rather than thanks. But far be it from me to stand in the way of progress ;-) I will let the juggernaut brush me aside, rather than throwing myself under its wheels.
 
Wow I like this forum :-o
 
Jasmin165 said:
I'm probably in the minority, but I don't like the new system. It reminds me too much of Facebook, and the "heart" function seems a bit juvenile.

Just my opinion.
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I can see what you mean- I have never touched Facebook, but many do and it is unavoidable that there will be a greater integration with these things. The old Thanks button was an external plugin, and these things often break and stop working when the forum software gets upgraded, and there's a upgrade coming soon, I believe.

I said in my post that I thought they were a bit excitable and overstating their case a bit, but I can see that the box at the top and lists generated could help me find something, so it could be useful for looking back through old threads, which can be tricky. The hey-wow vision of 'opening the doors to a myriad of USEFUL features' sounds OTT, but I can see it help as a navigation tool, like tags, and I warm to any navigation tool.
 
Raymott said:
I doubt whether you'd be in the minority.
I wonder if there's a way to turn off being alerted to "private messages" every time someone "likes" your post.
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I can only see an option to switch the pop-up off for new private messages- Red5 might have a clever idea on that.

Raymott said:
PS: I can't wait to join those eight social sites to share all these posts I like so much!
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:-D
 
Raymott said:
I wonder if there's a way to turn off being alerted to "private messages" every time someone "likes" your post.
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Not yet, but vote for it to be added here: Allow users to enable/disable the likes notifications in the tool bar - vBulletin SEO Forums

Raymott said:
I can't wait to join those eight social sites to share all these posts I like so much!
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Here are a few statistics to explain why it is essential our site includes these social sharing facilities (and for our users to utilise them):

With over 500 million users, Facebook is now used by 1 in every 13 people on Earth, with over 250 million of them (over 50%) who log in every day. The average user still has about 130 friends, but that should expand in 2011.

48% of 18-34 year olds check Facebook when they wake up, with 28% doing so before even getting out of bed. The 35+ demographic is growing rapidly, now with over 30% of the entire Facebook user base. The core 18-24 year old segment is now growing the fastest at 74% year on year. Almost 72% of all US internet users are on now Facebook, while 70% of the entire user base is located outside of the US.

Over 700 Billion minutes a month are spent on Facebook, 20 million applications are installed per day and over 250 million people interact with Facebook from outside the official website on a monthly basis, across 2 million websites. Over 200 million people access Facebook via their mobile phone. 48% of young people said they now get their news through Facebook. Meanwhile, in just 20 minutes on Facebook over 1 million links are shared, 2 million friend requests are accepted and almost 3 million messages are sent. (*)
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People forecast that Facebook will exceed 1 billion users by the end of 2012 - that's 1 in 7 people on Earth! Then add in the impact of the other massive networks and it stands to reason that a massive majority of our user-base will be members of these services and will find these functions very useful.

Additionally, this is the social space through which many of our users will find us, now and in the future, and so it's very important for this site to take an active role and be seen in these spaces to attract our visitors. Allowing users to share our content allows them to help us to be seen by providing personal recommendations of our content, and this sort of promotion by word-of-mouth and referrals is very powerful indeed. (*)

Lastly, social sharing plays an increasingly important part in how well we rank in search engines when people query them, meaning that the more people who use these facilities the better for our community. (*)

I hope this breif explanation makes it clearer to all why these changes are not just useful to our community, but also essential to the future health of the site.

Enjoy! :)
 
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I don't get it. In no languages, "I like it" is equal to "thank you". Keep the thank you button and then the thumbs up is OK. And yes thumbs up may have its place in popular culture but not in every culture. So, the change's been unnecessary IMO.
 
The point about the thumbs-up is a good one- are there other possibilities besides a heart or thumb?
 
Any graphic you want. :)

And yes thumbs up may have its place in popular culture but not in every culture.
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Anyone can suggest another by providing a link to an example on the net and we'll consider it... however we have to draw a line somewhere as not everyone will agree with our final choice no matter how many people we ask and account for.

So, the change's been unnecessary IMO.
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The change is necessary to ensure the future stability of the forum.
 
There is this box in the User Control Panel that says "Latest Reputation Received". I think it's not necessary now and it doesn't work anyway.
 
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