You will get the very same “oh no I feel bad now” from people not replying to your post, so @tomchick’s idea that removing likes prevents this from happening, is demonstrably false.
Ironically adding likes addresses the very problem that Tom decries; you can now get likes AND replies so the odds of “oh no, nobody cares what I wrote” go down, not up! A post that nobody responds to, either with actual reply words or a non verbal nod / wave / thumbs-up of a like – is less likely, not more likely.
Given a set amount of time to participate, you can dole out likes in far greater number than replies. In a given 15 minute session, you could maybe reply 5 times max? Now you can like as you scroll, which takes all of a second, then write your replies. Resulting in 10 likes and 5 replies in the same unit of effort. Of course, being slippery slope reductionists, some will argue the likes would replace replies. This is complete nonsense, but even if entertained, I would argue that 10 likes and 4 replies is a better long term outcome for the forum and the human beings in it, than 5 replies alone. Because empathy – read what @Tman and @Ephraim and others wrote above.
Like I said. Bad decision, but at least it was handed down in a thoughtful community friendly way with a solid, experimental “month on, month off” process.
You’re saying I was motivated by screwing over the people who had those better outcomes, when I never indicated anything of the sort. That’s more than a smidgeon assholesque.
“You feel that way because you know people who actually experienced it had better outcomes” read that way to me. Text can lack nuance, for sure, and I apologize for misreading it.
And yes, I agree-- like I said earlier, 'Tis better to never have loved at all, than loved and lost.
See what makes my misquote funny is that it’s obvious hogwash when applied to its original intent, that of fulfillment in life being worth attempting any challenge, even if that challenge is nearly insurmountable or that fulfillment ultimately proves fleeting.
But it works when talking about giving people a cool yet controversial new button for a month and then yanking it away.
I for one am glad Tom made the choice he did. If he hadnt we would have missed out on this incredibly hilarious post decision dick slapping contest. You go girls!
Thanks stusser, thats a lot. I am really that lost, I am so lost that I have to be honest about it and lose any pretense about it. Users are… a enigma to me.
Has for this thread…
Wumpus want us to feel. But what If we don’t want to feel? maybe we want to share ideas, abstract ideas, we want to share information and opinions. Friends and feels is not something that need to be rushed, we can make feels after years sharing ideas and opinions.
Is the like button the forum equivalent of speed dating?
Why love have so much good press, when half the time it make you feel bad?
What if people had like buttons out in the real world?
I’ll tell you what: they would run around ramming their own like buttons into people they wanted to like them, all while yelling “YOU LIKE ME, YOU LIKE ME!”
I believe the test was to see if the people who wanted likes could face their removal with aplomb, and without bitterness or rancor. This they failed to do (YGG). Seeing that likes lowered the level of discourse after being present for only one month, Tom decided to steer away from the abyss.
I think the test was like, we were playing Russian roulette. So you took the gun, pointed to your temple, pulled the trigger, click. Then you hand the gun to me and I take it but then turn the pistol back on you, hammer the trigger as fast as my little index finger will work, but it’s just a series of clicks. So I go ha, good one, you got me, and go to hand the pistol back but I drop it and when he pistol hits the floor it fires and blows all our brains out. Or something like that.
