Like function?

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

...in posts to click on, if we like what that member has contributed, but don't necessarily feel a raft of words in response, is warranted?

Even the 'good posting' emoticon means we have to post.... being able to simply 'like' a post would be so much simpler.

[Crazy cloud]

I find this way + a few words describing what one likes especially , the best in the long run

It makes the feedback more personal and sincere, in my opinion

best regards

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

Sure.... But I can bet your bottom dollar that if a 'like' button existed, you'd use that instead, if all you wanted to do was to show approval.

Both options would cover the bases..........

[Crazy cloud]

No, I would not have done it the easiest way ..

In another forum I use to visit, they have that option, and often it seems to me that the "like-button" only signals to the monkeys: come and join in the cirkus , and dont forget to bring your drums along ..

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

well thank you for your comments. I await the response from Admin; after all, they have the authority to make this decision....

Thanks.

[DNS]

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7151
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4747

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

That answers my question!









That will do nicely, I think!

[m0rl0ck]

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7151
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4747

Good policy. There are plenty of boards where popularity contests and the lowest common denominator dictate content. Dhammawheel is a nice refuge from that sort of thing.

[Jetavan]

Personally, I was hoping for a 'crave' button.

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

Oooooh Yesss!

I want one, I want one, I want one, I want one, I want one!!

[Dinsdale]

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7151
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4747

Good policy. There are plenty of boards where popularity contests and the lowest common denominator dictate content. Dhammawheel is a nice refuge from that sort of thing.

Yes, it is. And trying to be popular is hard work anyway.

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

I don't need to try.....

[Modus.Ponens]

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7151
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4747

Good policy. There are plenty of boards where popularity contests and the lowest common denominator dictate content. Dhammawheel is a nice refuge from that sort of thing.

Like

[m0rl0ck]

[Modus.Ponens]

[dhammapal]

Hi,

I really discovered Facebook in January 2014 and the Like button is vital, not just for encouragement "Sadhu!" but because it means the threshold for identifying new friends is so low just a click whereas here you have to interrupt the conversation with a reply even if it is only a "Good Post". My main Facebook group is experiencing more than exponential growth. I checked out "DhammaWheel on Facebook" and people aren't using the Like button very much.

In the Anguttara Nikaya the Buddha repeatedly censured being stingy with praise as a fetter.

With metta / dhammapal.

[SarathW]

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7151
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4747

Good policy. There are plenty of boards where popularity contests and the lowest common denominator dictate content. Dhammawheel is a nice refuge from that sort of thing.

Like

[dhammapal]

I can see the logic now. I remembered this quote:

There have been periods in the history of Buddhism when monks would put fans in front of their faces so that they wouldn't read the reaction of the people out there, the idea being that the audience would be more likely to actually hear the genuine Dharma when the speaker isn't trying to read the audience and please them.
From: The Freedom to Give by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

With metta / dhammapal.

[Mkoll]

Is there a simple way to implement/enable a "like" function into the forum's code? If so, maybe we can hold a vote on implementing it? I find that browsing forums with a like function makes it easier to recognize posts/posters worth reading in the limited time I want to spend visiting a forum.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Mkoll,

Technical feasibility aside, this matter has been raised, discussed and rejected quite a few times over the years, just as recently as February this year.

I might have the opportunity to look around for previous discussions next time I'm back in front of a PC.

UPDATE: OK, here we go...

Thumbs up button
Could we have a 'like' button....
Likes or +1 or something like that
(and these are just the "public" discussions, there have also likely been conversations behind the scenes too with similar points raised...)

For the record, I'm against it for the same reasons as before. Such functionality might be pragmatic for example on a technical site that offers technical solutions to technical problems, so that members can highlight which solutions actually work, but the Dhamma is so diverse in terms of scope, application and relevance to different people of different dispositions and experience... all I see it leading to in such an environment is unproductive patterns like ego-inflation, narcissism, popularity contests, virtue signalling, bullying, group think, cliques and discouraging diversity in thought. These are all qualities, behaviours and forum attributes which the current administration and moderators are not looking to give rise to, especially since they have all existed here at previous times in the past, to greater or lesser degrees, and were not beneficial to the forum.

In keeping with our principle of intellectual and spiritual autonomy, individuals can judge for themselves what is meritorious or not... there is no need to defer this necessary discernment to anonymous strangers. After all, the path to enlightenment is not decided by majority vote.

Metta,
Paul.