NEW: Thank You Button on Posts

[Joan Marie]

I've just added a new feature that allows us to "Thank" each other for posts we like.

I really think this a nice feature and something we've all wished for from time to time.

You will see the little "thumbs up" symbol in the top right corner of every post (except your own posts) that you can click.

The "thank yous" are added up and names are given of who thanked. I'm not sure how I will keep all these settings exactly, it depends on how it looks and how people feel about it, but for now I really encourage you to check it out and show your appreciation for all the thoughtful and helpful posts people make. I can tweak the settings later, but the feature stays for sure.

Have fun! And Thank you all!

FYI- Only Cult of Tarot members can use this feature.

[Myperception]

This is a great idea ! It's a way to show our appreciation towards the reader caused he or she might help us to realise or look at the situation in different ways, we could be making a better decision after the reading.

[Joan Marie]

You can also think of it as a "Like" button in addition to a "Thank you" button.

[jaq]

That's great! I was hoping for something like that.

[HOLMES]

I love that, many a time on old atf , wished for like feature

[stronglove]

really sorry to be a nuisance here, but i don’t like this at all, in fact i pretty much hate it.....
have returned to cult of tarot after a 6 month ‘digital detox’, deleted my facebook account, unsubscribed from almost all mailing lists etc etc, it was the best thing i could have done for myself. the cult of tarot forum was the only community i really missed these last months. and now i am back and the first thing i see is the equivalent of the ‘like’ button, the facebook feature i hated the most..... bummer! and i see loads of stars beneath the posts with: ‘rating 50%’ or ‘rating 100%’....what the f....??
i cannot understand why this is necessary, and it makes me very uneasy. to me it feels like just another way to strive for as many thank you’s as possible. because what am i supposed to feel if i post something and nobody thanks me? or if i get 20 thank you’s for my post and somebody else gets ‘only’ 3? what is so difficult about hitting the reply button and writing thank you, if you really appreciate what someone has to say? you might even want to make the effort to write down WHY you like what this person has posted.....
sorry to go on and on about this but i am so dissappointed and upset about this.

[Joan Marie]

I really do get what you are saying stronglove.

You make some valid points. I especially agree that writing a quick post to say thanks has a big value. It does.

However, there are many important advantages to this new feature.

For example, having a "Thank You" button is a way for people who may not engage on the forum very much (or at all) to engage at least in some way. This is important for them and may eventually draw them in to engage more fully.

Also, giving people who post, feedback of any kind at all is extremely important on a forum. They know they aren't posting into a vacuum. And to get at least a couple of thank you's can be very encouraging. They know they are seen.

Additionally, there are people who make massively informative posts that are used for reference by people for a long time. A little "thank you" is just an expression of appreciation for that work. There are also posts that are interesting but don't necessarily invite comment, a little thank you is a way to acknowledge the value of the post and the effort of the poster.

I agree, the percentage thing is a little weird, I don't know what it even means exactly. I just ignore it. I will see if there is a way to disable that.

Now that you've brought this up, I kind of appreciate more now that it is a "Thank you" button and not a "Like" button. There is a difference. It's easy to "Like" anything, but a "Thank you" has a different meaning. People don't compete for thanks.

Facebook and a lot of other social media can breed competitiveness and inauthenticity (in other words, what we call: doing it wrong ), but a forum is different. People contribute here because they have something to say. Because they are enthusiastic or curious about a topic. Because they have questions and are looking for answers. Because they have answers and wish to help. No one here is amassing a following (which is what "Likes" are about ultimately). We are all just sharing our interest and love of the same thing. And saying a quick "thanks" every now and then is part of that experience.

In response to this message from you stronglove, I did disable the "Thanks Counters" that appeared under everyone's avatar indicating how many times they'd thanked or been thanked. I didn't really see any big value in having that and your message encouraged me to just disable it.

[stronglove]

thank you for explaining, joan marie. i understand. but for me this type of thank you will always feel ‘off’. i guess it is related to me almost always being the one that writes down things nobody wants to hear.... that never got me a lot of ‘likes’. in time i will probably ‘get over it’ but for now i find it difficult to deal with. but i am really glad you managed to get rid of those stars!
anyway, i have solved the problem by adding a signature to my posts, saying i don’t want to be thanked. and i will continue to show my appreciation for other people’s contributions by using the reply button.

[stronglove]

i am still getting ‘starstruck’ though, and i am wondering what is the meaning of all those stars and the message: rating 100% or 50 %? i find it very distracting because it is the first thing you(i) see in a post, because of the color and the shapes.

[Joan Marie]

Like I said in my earlier post, I have no idea what they mean either and unfortunately they cannot be disabled. I have contacted the developer to see if there is something that be done about that. I agree they could go and no one would miss them.

-Joan

[Joan Marie]

i am still getting ‘starstruck’ though, and i am wondering what is the meaning of all those stars and the message: rating 100% or 50 %? i find it very distracting because it is the first thing you(i) see in a post, because of the color and the shapes.

UPDATE: Success! I Was able to disable the ratings stars.

So now the Thank You function is just that, a way to thank people for their readings and contributions and ideas.