On April 15th, I’m going to switch on likes for 30 days. On May 15th, I’m going to turn them off for 30 days. On June 15th, we’ll figure out whether to keep them. The idea is to try them for a bit, see how it goes, see how we feel once they’re gone, and then make a call.
I kind of want this to be up to you guys. I’m not interested in running the forum by fiat, which is why we have spoiler tags I still don’t like spoiler tags. But on this issue, I want to give you all a heads up that if I feel strongly about how and whether they affect conversations, I might just say “well, we tried, but I really don’t like how it turned out and we’re not going to have likes”.
In other words, sometimes I might run the forum by fiat and this might be one of those times. But let’s at least give it a try and see how it goes.
So the question I have for you guys is this: Would it be better if folks were limited to a certain number of likes per day? Discourse has that as a feature and the idea is to instill a like with value by limiting the supply. If so, how many? Ten? More? Fewer? Or do you guys think likes should simply be unlimited?
Since limiting the supply inflates their value, I suspect that doing so actually increases their influence on the nature of the conversation, so if you’re going to add them, don’t limit them.
I like likes, the more the merrier. I hadn’t even thought of the possibility of limiting them to fewer than a billion a day, but I suppose I lean more to “do what thou wilt be the whole of the law” than “keep them safe, legal, and rare.”
I hate the idea of likes, but if you are going to do it, might as well do it unlimited. It wont make any difference anyway: if people feel a like will suffice over a written response, they will not start writing responses again after their likes run out.
If you’re going to add them, especially as a trial, why limit them. It’s just a like. It’s not meant to be a full blown rating system. I mean, what happens when you get to the comment that is one more likes than you had for the day? Do you go back and unlike? Do you just laugh and go, “haha, sir, fuck you, NO LIKES FOR YOU!” It makes no sense.
Likes are akin to waving to someone who did something you appreciate. Once they are on, NOT WAVING when someone does something you appreciate is more like a dick move.
I think I saw this movie once in the party of the rental store behind the dusty black curtain. On the cover, a lady in a rubber Reagan mask was giving Mark Zuckerberg a very strange looking massage.
