Testing out the Facebook “like” button
Hey Everyone,
You can probably see that a facebook “like” button just showed up on all our posts (at least, if you’re viewing at http://www.genderfork.com directly, it did). People have asked for ways to show they like something without having to leave a full comment. Facebook’s solution is kinda interesting because it lets you see which of your friends have liked it, but doesn’t show the identities of people who aren’t your friends on Facebook.
So… keep it or kill it? Do you like the Facebook solution? Or is just adding clutter?
Tell me below.
Thanks!
Sarah
p.s. if you’re looking to expand your facebook-based genderforkian community, try chiming in on the conversations over here: http://www.facebook.com/genderfork
EDIT: We’re ALSO now talking about a like/dislike rating system on comments now. See comment discussion on this post for more details.
POLL TIME!: Weigh in with your votes below, here:
[Image source: Whitezine]
Category: general info, requests 53 comments »
August 22nd, 2010 at 1:12 pm |
I like the like button, but I don’t like the stupid sentences that follow it, such as “Be the first of your friends to like this!”
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August 22nd, 2010 at 1:23 pm |
I think if we’re going to go all facebook-ee then it would be cool to be able to “like” other peoples’ comments too.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 1:24 pm |
Although the idea of being able to ‘like’ posts without commenting may be convenient, I’m not very fond of the new Facebook tie-in on Genderfork. I don’t have a Facebook account, and this often makes me feel left out. I really loved that although there was a place for genderforkers on Facebook, the main site itself was accessible and welcoming to all. To me, it rather clutters up the site and reminds me again how ubiquitous Facebook has become. Also, I love hearing what other genderforkers have to say about posts! I’m afraid the ‘like’ feature will distract from the thoughtfulness that exists in the comments.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 1:30 pm |
Heja… to be honest, I do not like it at all! Thanks, Anonymous, for putting it so well.
I was really glad when I found out about genderfork, and one of the reasons was that while it does have the (generally useful, if not to me) “Stay connected” links, it was NOT filled will all these twitter / facebook / … things, but was something of its own (welcoming, yes!).
Seeing the facebook icon right now made me do quite a double-take — I’d feel much more comfortable without it…
~tigr
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August 22nd, 2010 at 1:34 pm |
Also, I don’t care about the *number* of people ‘like’ing something or not — but I really like reading all the comments, even if it happens to just be a brief “this is great”! I’d rather people write that than press a button :) it’s part of what makes this place great!
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August 22nd, 2010 at 1:35 pm |
I agree with Anonymous. Part of the reason I really love Genderfork is that there’s always a lot of love and support poured out in the comments, and you can get into real conversations there. A Like button… I don’t want to say that it DISCOURAGES commenting, but it makes it easier not to comment. We can’t lose the comments.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 1:38 pm |
REALLY good points, guys.
I’ll leave it up for a little longer and keep listening, but right now the “ditch it, or at least find a way to make it better” message is winning.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 1:41 pm |
Actually, you know what? Screw it. I don’t like it. It’s making us look too facebook-ey. It’s comin’ down.
I agree that the ability to ‘like’ comments would be super-useful. maybe i can find that….
Thanks. :)
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August 22nd, 2010 at 1:44 pm |
Hmmmmm…..
Looks like there was a setting for just changing it to show the number of people. Removes all the dumb language and also removes the “i know that person” aspect.
okay, i’m gonna sit with this new version for a minute. more feedback welcome. :)
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August 22nd, 2010 at 2:16 pm |
I think this could grow on me. I’m the kind of person that likes to comment (I’m sure you’ve notices haha) but I also like this thumbs up thing and the fact that we’ve removed the facebook names and such. I like this, and I think most people who frequent Genderfork are the type to leave comments regardless, but the “like” feature to me is an interesting form of constructive criticism. It can generally be assumed that something with a lot of “likes” stands out from the crowd as something particularly good, and I dont see how that could be a bad thing.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 2:19 pm |
Okay…. now introducing a test-run with these thumbs-up/thumbs-down icons on comments. How are you liking them?
For the thumbs down… i could remove that icon if we don’t want to give negative feedback.
I could ALSO set it so that if a comment gets a certain number of “thumbsdowns”, it “collapses.” (not sure what collapses means.) Let’s find out on my next comment..
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August 22nd, 2010 at 2:20 pm |
Okay, please mark THIS comment thumbs-down, for testing purposes. I’ve set it so that it will disappear at a rating of “-3” (i think it will need to be a bigger number than that, though, if we do this. maybe 8?)
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August 22nd, 2010 at 2:32 pm |
INTERESTING!
Look at the comment above. Shows what happens when people don’t like it. It just gets it out of your way.
What do you think? Stay or go? Will it add drama or help remove it?
And if we keep it, what should the negative rating be to cause that behavior? I’m thinking -5.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 2:35 pm |
I don’t like the idea of rating things “down”… It comes back to that idea of love and positivity. This is a place for acceptance and tolerance. It’d be one thing if we got a lot of negativity on this site, but we don’t.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 2:50 pm |
When the comments rating was first mentioned I thought it might be a good idea (and I still see its merits), but in practice I’m not happy with it — it makes the site feel a bit like all those “who’s the best, who’s at the top, let’s have lots of rankings and rate and number everything” and takes away from the feel of personality[? not sure if that’s the word] and hospitality; maybe that’s just me tho? I’d think one would notice a good comment when one reads it, even without a “+6” next to it — and there’s already something to gauge interest in a post: the number of comments. ;)
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Sarah Dopp replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:04 pm
I totally see those concerns. Since we’re still allowing anonymous commenting (and since this up/down plugin is very simple), there’s no aggregation of how someone scores overall… just a mechanism for giving a commenter appreciation in the moment. Not sure if that changes your experience of it or not…
but hey. another thing we could do to give appreciation in the moment is set up THREADED comments. Like this one. Still testing, but check it out!
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A replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:06 pm
This is DEFINITELY a good idea. Oftentimes I want to reply to a specific comment, and find myself having to use a Twitter-esque “@” reply. If nothing else, I like the “Reply” button.
(HELLO I HAVE OPINIONS. =D)
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Sarah Dopp replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Nice! Last i checked, this particular threaded comments plugin only went out to three levels. testing that now…
Sarah Dopp replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:09 pm
yup. so you can’t reply to a reply to a reply. but above that, you’re good.
August 22nd, 2010 at 2:53 pm |
Really good point, A, and my concern about the “down” thumb is that it might actually create negativity. I want to protect how supportive this space is.
We do, however, get a decent number of comments that are well-intentioned but indirectly offensive to people… and if we were in-person, the people behind those comments would get non-verbal (body language, quiet glances) feedback that they need to back off or tone it down. Online, they don’t get that. Wondering if this would provide it…
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J.D. replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:11 pm
but what you also have to consider is, if someone were to just thumb down a comment that may have unintentionally offended them, without having to explain to the person why they did it, could that not cause even more miscommunication and negativity?
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Sarah Dopp replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Very possibly. Great point.
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Anna replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:37 am
D
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August 22nd, 2010 at 3:14 pm |
Okay. POLL TIME! Vote by hitting “REPLY” to this comment.
Which of the following (that i just added) do you want us to KEEP?
A) Facebook Like button on posts (as it appears now)
B) Comment ratings: Thumbs Up button
C) Comment ratings: Thumbs Down button, with the comment ‘collapsing’ if there are enough Down votes.
D) Threaded comments (the “reply” button under comments)
So… if you want them all, say “A, B, C, D”. If you just want the full comment rating, say “B, C.” and so on…
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J.D. replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I replied to the wrong comment -facepalm- A B D
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tigr replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:24 pm
D.
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genderkid replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Also D.
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A replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:48 pm
B, D.
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Anonymous replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:53 pm
B, and D.
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Leni replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 4:27 pm
D
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Lou replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 5:07 pm
B & D
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Avery replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 6:47 pm
A
I don’t like the idea of any sort of “thumbs down” or “dislike” button becuase one of the things I value so much about Genderfork is how positive we are able to stay.
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Lan replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:01 pm
B + D
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Matthew replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:27 pm
D
Mostly for the reasons stated above. I like being able to reply to a certain thought that someone had at their comment, rather than 10 comments down. The only thing is that forks for repliers seem to have been done away with. I miss the forks.
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Maxx replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:55 pm
D.
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Dorian replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:25 pm
D
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Elle replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:50 pm
D
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freiya replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 11:58 pm
D
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jean c. replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:35 am
voting… A, B, D.
(C might be okay — it’s useful on youtube where commenters regularly come out with some seriously hateful/oblivious crap, that you just don’t want to have to even glance at. but I agree with the person who worried that it might make people wonder *why* their comment had gotten voted down… especially because there’s not that much offensive speech that makes it to the comments here anyways, and it’s more like controversial or debatable points…. that are worth talking about, not hiding!)
I feel like I should say that Genderfork is the ONLY place on the wider internet (i.e. besides blogs of friends) where I seek out & enjoy reading the comments. everywhere else, I inevitably regret reading comments… it just makes me feel gross & debased, and lose more faith in my fellow humans. Here, the comments are half to two-thirds of what make the site awesome.
In other words, you all rule!
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essejz replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 6:22 am
Only D
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Jay replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:50 am
B & D.
The Facebook thing I really don’t care about.
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Sean replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:43 am
D.
One reason I love tbe Genderfork site so much is that it’s not even remotely related to facebook. The like/dislike features also clutter up the page in my opinion. I think that the reply feature is good and encourages related conversations instead of lots of unconnected comments.
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Simon replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:53 am
A, B, D.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 3:36 pm |
Like does nothing for me in general. I am not anti-like on a website. It isn’t one of those “not another sparkly page with three different fonts issue” where I automatically ugh when I see it.
I love a quick easy “Share” button for sharing on Facebook or Twitter. (though now with my BlogHer toolbar, I don’t miss that when sites I visit don’t offer that option.)
I don’t “like” things all that often. I am more likely to do so where I think the author will realize that while I don’t leave a comment, something about the post touched me.
I suppose I am too much of a “Punished by Rewards” thinker and take “liking” too seriously.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 3:55 pm |
Now testing a “preview” button on comments (idea suggested by tigr).
(okay, that looks pretty awesome.)
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August 22nd, 2010 at 3:59 pm |
Liking the liking, not liking the thumbs up or down on comments.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 4:22 pm |
I wish it stayed a neutral all-inclusive, non-judgmental, representative place, without the paranoia of “how many people will like me…or my comment”. I like the threading though.
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Dorian replied:
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:37 pm
I much agree! I feel as though the like/dislike feature has the potential to unwittingly become a popularity contest of sorts.
If threading stays, however, it’d be easy to reply with a quick “So do I!” or “I feel the same way!” instead of the little thumbs up/thumbs down that can be interpreted any number of ways and may alienate some of genderforkers. That would eliminate like/dislike and tidy up the comments, making the conversations within them more coherent.
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Jay replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:52 am
Exactly what you say here. Especially about the ‘unwittingly’ aspect of it.
And I love threading anyway. I spend to much time on LiveJournal not too! xD
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August 22nd, 2010 at 5:31 pm |
no dislike button. it will create hate, drama, and overall negative feelings in an overall supportive community
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August 22nd, 2010 at 7:48 pm |
I just have to say, I’m really not loving this. I really enjoyed the simplicity of Genderfork, and it was my get away from my Facebook/non accepting people.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 11:57 pm |
Hhmmmm, i really like the threaded comments, it adds something to the comments that is beneficial to the flow of conversation. But the thumbs up/thumbs down, in my mind doesn’t. I also love the fact that genderfork isn’t negative, and having the option for thumbs down-ing something just doesn’t seem right for here…..
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August 23rd, 2010 at 2:28 am |
I agree with several of the last comments – I like the site neutral and different from sites like Facebook. If we “like” or “dislike” something we should want to elaborate on it in comments instead of simply hitting a button – especially when it comes to something as complex as one’s gender.
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