Boost Engagement with 'Like' Function on Forum Posts

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phion
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I'm not sure how adding Facebook-esque type functionality attached to every forum post might be received, but I think that a lot of people might appreciate the nonverbal qualifications and encouragement of those kinds of notifications. What do you think?
 

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Welcome to the forums phion.

We've had this suggestions many times before but have decided not to go with it. The biggest problem is that liking a post is a purely subjective act and does nothing to ensure the veracity of the statement. On a forum where objective evidence is paramount this wouldn't fit well at all.

You might be interested to read one of our previous discussions on the topic
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=560842
 
phion said:
I'm not sure how adding Facebook-esque type functionality attached to every forum post might be received, but I think that a lot of people might appreciate the nonverbal qualifications and encouragement of those kinds of notifications. What do you think?
We've discussed this before and decided against it as people "liking" something might be confused with it being accurate. This is why we developed our "Science Advisor" and "Homework Helper" recognitions for people that consistently make high quality posts and have a positive, helpful attitude.

Please feel free to tell a member if you like their posts, a bit of thanks is always appreciated.

Edit: Ryan beat me to it.
 
Now that you mention that, I agree wholeheartedly with your rationale. Thank you!
 
On second thought, why not restrict the function to off-topic sections?
 
Oh, I see. Anyway, I've always admired your forum and all the custom bells and whistles! It takes me some time to catch up to these things. :-p
 
To offer some evidentiary support to the wisdom expressed here, I belong to some other scientific forums which have the "like" functionality. I have noticed that the things of mine that are most liked are the ones many less sophisticated people can appreciate rather than ones that are most authoritative. I.e. some things I have posted on which I am a world's authority are liked only by 3 or 4 experts who can understand it, while some elementary remarks I thought everyone already knew have been enormously popular. Thus while it is kind of fun, it is essentially anti intellectual in nature.
 
I appreciate your feedback mathwonk, it's always a pleasure to read your posts!