Thanking posters.

BitterAndTwisted

lovinituk wrote: »

Most forums have some sort of widget like it. I think its just an added extra to appeal to the people who like that sort of thing. I'm certain there are people on some forums who post just to increase their thanks! Its almost like a game to them - take the widgets away and they probably wouldn't post as much.

Oh, it is a game all right. On one of the saddo American music sites I haunt there's also a "smite" function. It can get terribly amusing, especially when the moderators get a thrashing just out of principle or people get all indignant because they take it seriously and believe others don't "like" them and are being victimised in some way. Oh, how I laugh

serious_saver

lostinrates wrote: »

Clicking thanks takes me no time at all, infant, not clicking thanks or spam is a hazard scrolling through often enough....I always have to deselect people as spam becuase my mouse and touch screen are both click happy

I have the same problem, I'm frequently deselecting something as spam.

I usually thank when I agree with something or when I think a valid comment has been put forward - even if I don't agree with it.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed the same phenomenon but most of my thanks do not come from OP's. They come from other members who are also giving advice or debating. I expect this is because OP's will stop reading a thread once they have received a suitable answer.

I agree that the number of 'thanks' doesn't neccessarily reflect the usefulness of advice. My highest thanks for a recent post was 66 on discussion thread about atheism and school nativity plays. It was a quick post giving a personal opinion. Often thanks are given out more freely on some of the more controversial threads.

serious_saver

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I am a profligate thanker. I always reason that someone who has patently taken the time and trouble to type out their thoughts might care whether anyone else in the world had either read it in the first place, agreed with it or found it useful. I sometimes I wish could thank very witty posts several times over.
Note to self: must get life.

Please don't get a life! You've thanked some of my posts in the past and I would be sad if you stopped

Hobsons_Choice

I always thank someone for an informative, interesting, useful post- or even a comment that gives me a much-needed giggle.
I think some folk might use them as "bookmarks" to see where they've read to though (been guilty meself on a fast-moving thread, sorry).

LondonDreamer

Another one who thanks the same as 3v3 - must go back and click thanks on that post.

For those who are using thanks as bookmarks, a much easier way to keep track is all your unread threads are in bold. There'll be a little down arrow to the left of the thread title. If you click that, it will take you straight to the last post the forum thinks you read. Sometimes it can be a bit behind, especially in quick moving threads where there's 5 new posts before your last reply, but it's usually quite accurate.

If you use multiple computers/devices to browse MSE, stay logged in on all of them and it will update them all. I do this to keep track of threads I read at work (on my lunch break, mostly ) and then at home.

lostinrates

LondonDreamer wrote: »

Another one who thanks the same as 3v3 - must go back and click thanks on that post.

For those who are using thanks as bookmarks, a much easier way to keep track is all your unread threads are in bold. There'll be a little down arrow to the left of the thread title. If you click that, it will take you straight to the last post the forum thinks you read. Sometimes it can be a bit behind, especially in quick moving threads where there's 5 new posts before your last reply, but it's usually quite accurate.

If you use multiple computers/devices to browse MSE, stay logged in on all of them and it will update them all. I do this to keep track of threads I read at work (on my lunch break, mostly ) and then at home.

What a useful thanks worthy post .

That last unread thing never works reliably for me though. I would use it if thanks disappeared and I was forced to, but I'm familiar with the bookmark thank method now.:o

Fruball

LondonDreamer wrote: »

Another one who thanks the same as 3v3 - must go back and click thanks on that post.

For those who are using thanks as bookmarks, a much easier way to keep track is all your unread threads are in bold. There'll be a little down arrow to the left of the thread title. If you click that, it will take you straight to the last post the forum thinks you read. Sometimes it can be a bit behind, especially in quick moving threads where there's 5 new posts before your last reply, but it's usually quite accurate.

If you use multiple computers/devices to browse MSE, stay logged in on all of them and it will update them all. I do this to keep track of threads I read at work (on my lunch break, mostly ) and then at home.

I've been meaning to eplain that for a while but cba lol Thanks for saving me the trouble. Oh and I 'thanked' you too

ragz_2

guineapig wrote: »

I find it irritating if someone poses a question and you take the trouble to reply and the Op doesn't thank you,it doesn't inspire me to post an answer to other posters who DO have the good manners to thank people who have taken the time to try and help with their questions!

FWIW I agree with the thanking of good ideas/points of view/useful info etc.

I never thought to check whether everyone has thanked me, it just didn't occur to me. I rarely check back once I have answered a question and certainly wouldn't just to see if I had been acknowledged...

I use it to mark posts I have read if it's a long thread I am on, or to thank people for posting. It's not really a big deal and I don't think anyone is that bothered (or are you?)...

rising_from_the_ashes

Ben84 wrote: »

It can be interesting to the person posting if/how many thanks they get. If I notice I have lots of thanks for a certain post I re-read it to see what I said that lots of people found interesting.

I do this too!

Frugal wrote: »

I always use the thanks button when people reply to threads i have started, and when people have responded to me personally..

Snap!

Frugal wrote: »

I do get a bit miffed when you take the time to respond to a new thread to answer a question, and the thanks button is not used by the OP!

guineapig wrote: »

I find it irritating if someone poses a question and you take the trouble to reply and the Op doesn't thank you,it doesn't inspire me to post an answer to other posters who DO have the good manners to thank people who have taken the time to try and help with their questions!

I do think it's really ignorant of people who don't thank you when you've taken the time to respond to a specific question they've raised in a thread.... if people take the time to respond to someone else then they at least deserve an acknowledgement of that.

I'm a bit like Bitter & Twisted in some of the larger threads ..... (eg the Grocery Challenge is averaging 6+ pages / day atm) and I do read every post and do also thank them to show I've read and appreciated the time they've taken to post something up.

Trouble with that is that if I miss a couple of days and just can't catch up, I feel really guilty for not thanking IYKWIM:o

3v3

PixieDust wrote: »

...
I wonder what the original intention of it was when the board was incepted?

I was a very long time lurker before I registered. The "thanks" button was not here at inception but was a later addition. I may be wrong, but I believe the original intention of the "Thanks" button was a means of readers acknowledging a USEFUL post but without needing to post a message to that effect. Thus, the principle began that it would be easier to "Thank" someone's post as a useful/informative/new info post as opposed to clogging threads with a "Wow! Great post/totally agree/response" so that viewers could get to the nitty-gritty of posts without being waylayed by sychophantic claptrap/favouritism/cliques/etc.

However, from the beginning, it became a tool manipulated for a) favouritism/popularity, b) a tool of contention and c) a blanket acknowledgement of a person posting on a popular thread regardless of taste, respect, opinion, value or otherwise. But, that is par for the course of human nature and not to surprise really.

Hence my selective use of the thanks button.

Many moons ago, as a teen, a conversation with a brother of mine (bit of a boffin he was ) I remarked on a review of a particular film. His response was: " A review is only as good as the person making it; if you *trust* their opinion, then run with it; if you don't, then what does their opinion matter?"

That is the same, IMO, as the number of "Thanks" a person has. If you trust that number, run with it

My personal philosophy is: read the post, if unsure, read the history of the poster; bear in mind, on an internet forum we are all faceless, nameless no marks in the first instance. Read between the lines, not the "thanks" count Do your research and try not to make snap judgements, but considered opinions of posters.

Just my humble opinion: I could be mistaken/wrong