So I have some thoughts on likes and Discourse.
I do not like infinite scroll and I think it’s a bad design. It makes it incredibly difficult to come back to a thread you’re reading on a mobile device after you switch tabs or apps when that device insist on reloading the page when you return thereby losing your place in the thread.
Having recently returned from a place that has likes I can honestly say that I want them to die in a fire. My perspective on likes is that they become a form of bullying that encourages people to like-brigade.
If someone agrees with something I consider it better to join the conversation. The like button ends up allowing a small number of very vocal posters to create an orthodox echo chamber by doing the speaking for everybody else. Instead of getting a variety of shades of opinions, people just click like and move on.
In my opinion it becomes a way to bully and silence the people who are posting and very conspicuously NOT receiving the likes.
So infinite scroll can DIAF but likes deserve to be shot and then burned. :D