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Forums - Website Topics - Is the implementation of a 'like' system beneficial of detrimental?

 

Thoughts on the like system?

In favour of it 26 39.39%
 
Against it 29 43.94%
 
Neutral/don't know 11 16.67%
 
Total:66
potato_hamster on 17 April 2018
BraLoD said:
potato_hamster said:

Any "like" button will equally be abused. All it does is help turn discussions into popularity contests where people where foolishly argue that their posts are more valid than the person they're arguing against because their posts have more likes.

The only thing it's going to lead to is more divided message boards.

Abusing the like button should make no difference unless we have any kind of meassure contest provided by the site, which it does not.

At least some people can get a bit happier their posts are being liked I guess, though the good ol' quote to answer it is the best anyway.

It's a system to give validation to posts, and a lack of likes can become just as powerful as a dislike button. "How can you possibly say that Nintendo doesn't only make games for children, look at this post with 46 likes on it! You're obviously wrong". "The objective, verifiable fact is wrong. If it was right, your post would have likes".

I guarantee you there's people on this board that think this way.

"Like" systems literally add nothing to the conversation. In fact, they discourage conversation. This is a step backward.



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VAMatt on 17 April 2018

As long as it remains free of any sort of incentives for liking comments, then I fail to see how it could have any kind of negative effect. So, I'm cool with it.



VAMatt on 17 April 2018
Super_Boom said:
RavenXtra said:
Against. Just adds an incentive to "point farm" and change their way of posting to maximize said points. Conversations should be as genuine as possible and not as an aim to gain imaginary points or attention. There was already enough of that without the Like system.

Well said. Have an upvote!

I don't get it.  I thought there were no points tied to "likes".  Is that not the case?



Megiddo on 17 April 2018

As I said in the development thread, just give me the option to turn it off. You can have a toggle (with it on by default). That way people who want the like button can have it and people who don't want it don't have it. Make it a toggle and you please both crowds. So please, tell me how to turn it off.



RaptorChrist on 17 April 2018
VAMatt said:
Super_Boom said:

Well said. Have an upvote!

I don't get it.  I thought there were no points tied to "likes".  Is that not the case?

I liked your post and you didn't gain any points, so that seems to be the case, unless the points are added as part of a cron routine.



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potato_hamster on 17 April 2018
TalonMan said:
VAMatt said:

I don't get it.  I thought there were no points tied to "likes".  Is that not the case?

There are absolutely NO POINTS, NO BADGES, NO VG$, NOTHING AT ALL tied to the "likes" - they have NO effect on post placement or visibility or anything at all.

And it will ABSOLUTELY remain that way...   :)

Talon,

With all due respect, it still affects how conversations will be had on this site. It should be pretty obvious to everyone that users will use the like system to justify which opinion is considered the "correct one". I don't think it's a step in the right direction.

I also would like to thank you for being so open to feedback. Keep up the good work.



potato_hamster on 17 April 2018
TalonMan said:
potato_hamster said:

Talon,

With all due respect, it still affects how conversations will be had on this site. It should be pretty obvious to everyone that users will use the like system to justify which opinion is considered the "correct one". I don't think it's a step in the right direction.

I also would like to thank you for being so open to feedback. Keep up the good work.

Well, maybe...   ...that depends on the user, really. If a user chooses to justify their opinion based on anonymous "likes" that have no weight or meaning, then whatever point they're trying to make, is obviously flimsy at best.

The fact that "dislikes" are not available, should immediately invalidate the argument that "my opinion is correct because of the number of 'likes' I've received", anyway. Since users aren't being given the option to "NOT like" a post, there is no way you can possibly make any argument with only half the equation. And that is precisely why it was done this way...

I think you overestimate the mindset of many of the users of this site. Time will tell I suppose. I hope you're right on this one.



kirby007 on 17 April 2018

honestly ill say the retarded bullshit i allways do if it gains me likes or not..
you people hang just to much credit on a thing in a corner



 "I think people should define the word crap" - Kirby007

Join the Prediction League http://www.vgchartz.com/predictions

Instead of seeking to convince others, we can be open to changing our own minds, and seek out information that contradicts our own steadfast point of view. Maybe it’ll turn out that those who disagree with you actually have a solid grasp of the facts. There’s a slight possibility that, after all, you’re the one who’s wrong.

Megiddo on 17 April 2018
RolStoppable said:

...but in order to get a genuine "like", it would take an approach where a user has to write good posts.

No, in order to get a genuine like you would make some meme post, or dogpile on someone else who has an opinion in the minority. They serve no purpose other than distracting from the content of the conversation by reinforcing whichever 'side' of an argument has the most popular opinion, regardless of the content of the argument itself.

Take this for example. Can you expect an honest to goodness serious debate about politics  to not have people "liking" the posts which back their own political preference regardless of the quality of content in the post itself? What is the point of that? 

Similarly, what is the point of Sony fans liking pro-Sony posts, Nintendo fans liking pro-Nintendo posts, Microsoft fans liking pro-Microsoft posts? What does that actually accomplish? How does a discussion improve by having these "like" buttons?

Last edited by Megiddo - on 17 April 2018

Megiddo on 17 April 2018

But that's the point. The argument should be based entirely on the words of each side. Seeing how many people "like" one side of an argument over the other diminishes the worth of the content of the argument. Popularity does not equal truth. That is a very commonly used logical fallacy. Like buttons will make such fallacies even more common.