Do We Have A Thank You Option?

[SalpalSally]

On another VB Forum, we have a thank you reply option at the bottom of our posts. If you read a post you like, but may be too tired to post a reply, you can hit the TY button and your name shows up at the bottom of the post as a "thank you". Sort of like a FB "like" button.

I think it's a wonderful thing for us who may have difficulty typing, some days. It shows that we were curtious enough to read the post.:o

Mike??

[Mike Weins]

Hmmm David and I will have to discuss this further. We had a brief talk about "reputation" and "thank you" before going live and felt that it had a big potential to create "cliques" and/or make someone feel bad due to the amount (or lack of) "rep" or "thanks". I do see where it would be a good thing to have the thank you enabled, but am not so sure it's the best thing to have on a forum dealing with such serious medical conditions and the emotions they create.

I'll let you know what we end up deciding, we might go with a trial period, we might not.

[SalpalSally]

Hmmm David and I will have to discuss this further. We had a brief talk about "reputation" and "thank you" before going live and felt that it had a big potential to create "cliques" and/or make someone feel bad due to the amount (or lack of) "rep" or "thanks". I do see where it would be a good thing to have the thank you enabled, but am not so sure it's the best thing to have on a forum dealing with such serious medical conditions and the emotions they create.

I'll let you know what we end up deciding, we might go with a trial period, we might not.

They disabled all the other stuff and just left the Thank You enabled, for the reasons you specified. It would be nice if you could do that, without all the rep and counting stuff??:)

[TrimTab]

Is "Like" an option?

Two other web sites I know of have a similar feature but they only show a 'count' using a method that is much like, perhaps too much like, well "Like."

[agate]

We had a brief talk about "reputation" and "thank you" before going live and felt that it had a big potential to create "cliques" and/or make someone feel bad due to the amount (or lack of) "rep" or "thanks". I do see where it would be a good thing to have the thank you enabled, but am not so sure it's the best thing to have on a forum dealing with such serious medical conditions and the emotions they create.

I agree. The Thank you feature can be hurtful.

If I were posting on a board like this one and looking for some replies, I wouldn't care about how many times a poster had been thanked. I would care about what that poster had to say. Having Thanks as an option on the screen distracts from the content of a person's post. There are plenty of distractions already, around the edges of a post, but most of them seem to be necessary. I wouldn't want any more of them though.

Just my opinion, though!

[SalpalSally]

I don't understand what is so hurtful about thanking someone for their post?

I agree that the thank yous shouldn't be counted as a separate popularity vote, though.

[agate]

It's not the Thank you option itself so much as the fact that there are always going to be posts that don't get any Thank yous--most likely just because they got overlooked.

If you were trying to be especially nice and thank lots of people so that nobody would feel left out, you'd spend a good bit of your time just thanking people for their posts. It might seem a bit pointless after a while.

Or at least that's how it seems to me.

If I had posted in a thread and noticed that everyone else's post in that thread had a number of thank yous but mine never had any, I might feel hurt about that. Particularly if I didn't know much about how message boards are, and a lot of people really don't have much experience with message boards.

[houghchrst]

I have been spending too much time on Facebook cause every time I pop in here I wanna hit the like button then catch myself lol. I think it would be great for those who have started a thread and just want to thank responders for their input. A quick acknowledgement that input has been read and appreciated but no response for now, maybe no time or in no condition.


Ahhh I wanna 'I'm feeling' button lol, so if I feel biotchy or festive or whatever then I can say so. You know, just for fun lol. I know, more important things lol.

Also what happened to the Grief Forum. I coulda really used it the last few days.

[agate]

I'm bringing up this thread because I'm having second thoughts about the Thank You option.

I've been wondering how the MS forum could be better and why some long-term members are dwindling away or just not coming back.

Some other message boards are more user-friendly than this one, it seems to me. They're easier to navigate.

Now that some of the initial problems have been fixed, maybe a Thank You option should be considered?

It might help people to feel as if their posts matter. People come here and post and get upset if there are no replies or the replies don't come along fast enough. I've been watching the Thank You option at work elsewhere and I've changed my mind about it. I think it would help to have that option here.

[SalpalSally]

Thank you Agate:o

[Mike Weins]

I'm bringing up this thread because I'm having second thoughts about the Thank You option.

I've been wondering how the MS forum could be better and why some long-term members are dwindling away or just not coming back.

That is a problem with all forums and we're trying to find ways to bring back some of our absentee members. If you have any suggestions we'd love to hear them.

Some other message boards are more user-friendly than this one, it seems to me. They're easier to navigate.

Can you provide an example or two please?

Now that some of the initial problems have been fixed, maybe a Thank You option should be considered?

It might help people to feel as if their posts matter. People come here and post and get upset if there are no replies or the replies don't come along fast enough. I've been watching the Thank You option at work elsewhere and I've changed my mind about it. I think it would help to have that option here.

If people are getting upset at not being replied to, or being replied to slowly, a thank you option will not fix this. It will in fact exaggerate the issue and people will be upset that they aren't getting enough "thanks" or aren't getting them fast enough.

I'm not saying we won't implement something like this, we just haven't decided how to go about doing so.

[agate]

Speaking about the MS board only here, since I have almost no knowledge of the other boards, I'd say that too many people have found other Web activity (Facebook, blogs, etc.) more interesting. The novelty of the BrainTalk MS board may have worn off.

I don't find Facebook or blogs a very satisfying way to communicate with other people, but evidently other people like these formats.

What is it about Facebook and blogs that attracts people? It could be that these formats give each person more of a chance to individualize what is on the screen, to make a personal statement, complete with photos, cartoons, and other visual effects.

If the BrainTalk board could become a place where people felt they had such opportunities, it just might find people staying around more.

I may not know what I'm talking about, but I've been a regular poster on this BrainTalk board since 2001.

[stillstANNding]

Hi. I've been visiting where Sally and Agate have been visiting. I love the "Thanks" button and would love to be able to use it here(MS Forum).

There are times that I want to acknowledge a post but have nothing of substance to say. Other times,
I am too MS fatigued to post but at least I can, "Thank."

Is there harm in trying a trial?
ANN

[Mike Weins]

No I don't see any harm in a trial run, I'll consult with David over the weekend as this week I'll be away from the computer from later today until Saturday afternoon.

[agate]

Thank you for being open to this idea.

On the subject of user-friendliness, these are just some random notions:

It would be nice to have more of a choice of skins/styles/templates. A bit of color in the background might make the boards more appealing, for instance.

Also, the smilies that we see on the screen before clicking on "More" (the new smilies) are really hard (for me) to see and figure out. I don't know if others are having this problem, but quite a few people with neurological disorders have impaired vision.

A couple of possible new emoticons/smilies:

I'd like to see more emoticons like this--aimed at encouraging people to post by providing emoticons that help them to enhance what they're trying to say.