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coronel mustard

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 27, 2008
91
0
Standish, England
Just wondering if such an idea has ever been thought of? It would save a lot of wasted posts- users instead just hit a thumbs up if they agree with a post- they can then add any further relevant comments in a new post if required.
 

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koobcamuk

macrumors 68040
Oct 23, 2006
3,195
9
Just wondering if such an idea has ever been thought of? It would save a lot of wasted posts- users instead just hit a thumbs up if they agree with a post- they can then add any further relevant comments in a new post if required.

Sounds ********.
 

angelwatt

Moderator emeritus
Aug 16, 2005
7,852
9
USA
I've seen that on social networks and usually find them to be lame and fairly annoying (personal opinion). I think they would be even less meaningful in a forum context.

Something more meaningful would be an indicator pointing out that a solution has been reached on a thread and possibly highlighting the post in the thread that best describes said solution. This would potentially keep users from reposting existing solutions because they overlooked the solution already given. It would also allow people visiting the thread (because they had a similar problem) more quickly find the solution information.

Highlighting the solution post would likely have to rely on the thread creator or an administrator and some threads don't necessarily have a "solution" as they are discussion related, but that's OK too.
 

coronel mustard

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 27, 2008
91
0
Standish, England
I've seen that on social networks and usually find them to be lame and fairly annoying (personal opinion). I think they would be even less meaningful in a forum context.

Something more meaningful would be an indicator pointing out that a solution has been reached on a thread and possibly highlighting the post in the thread that best describes said solution. This would potentially keep users from reposting existing solutions because they overlooked the solution already given. It would also allow people visiting the thread (because they had a similar problem) more quickly find the solution information.

Highlighting the solution post would likely have to rely on the thread creator or an administrator and some threads don't necessarily have a "solution" as they are discussion related, but that's OK too.

This sounds like a much better idea than the "like button"- highlighting solution posts within each thread would definitely help users find the relevant information quickly. This could also be added as a criteria when searching for information in the forums
 

Cabbit

macrumors 68020
Jan 30, 2006
2,128
1
Scotland
Usually these like and dislike buttons are used to down rank people you don't want in order to have there posts hidden, this is most certainly how it works on youtube for instance.
 

coronel mustard

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 27, 2008
91
0
Standish, England
Usually these like and dislike buttons are used to down rank people you don't want in order to have there posts hidden, this is most certainly how it works on youtube for instance.

Fair point- but on facebook, users can use the "like button" to simply like/agree what another user has posted. I originally thought that this could be applied here, however angelwatt's idea of highlighting the solution post within a thread is a far better idea.
 

Doctor Q

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
39,786
7,518
Los Angeles
We did consider such a feature once, and decided against it. We have "Positive | Negative" ratings for news stories but we purposely shy away from features that would assign ratings to members. We want no popularity contests. Assigning ratings to posts would indirectly have that same effect and the benefit to members would be at most very small.

If you think someone made a good point, you are welcome to expand on it by offering further commentary. The rules don't permit posts that say "+1" or "I agree" and nothing else, but if you can further the discussion then please do so.
 

coronel mustard

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 27, 2008
91
0
Standish, England
Interesting to hear that such a feature was once considered however i have now been convinced that such a feature would be unlikely to add anything to the forum.
 
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