OK let's settle a debate. Should Mumsnet have a LIKE button? Or not?!

[littlepattilou]

Debates have been going on over several threads this past few days.

Some people think we need a LIKE button on here. Like on facebook, and Digital Spy, and I think Money Saving Expert may have one.

So, should Mumsnet have a LIKE button? So people can 'like' a post when they think it's good? (And it may save people having to post to say they agree?)

Or is it a bad idea? Because it may create cliques and ganging-up, and may give the person with the most 'likes,' the impression they are correct, and may make the other person feel isolated and ganged up on.

So click YANBU, for we do NOT NEED a 'like' button.

or

YABU, for we DO need a 'like' button?

Thanks

No to a like button.
It’s good to see people post and use actual words and like buttons just cause angst. There’s a psychological effect that we can do without.

No

@NiceGerbil

Hard no from me.

And this thread is a case in point.

60% say they want a like button but pretty much all the posts say no.

So why do that 60% want it? I am none the wiser. Because, no post to say why. Which is really annoying.

Also, on here with the contentious topics you will get loads of 'likes' on stuff but without engagement. So it'll be ner net you're wrong look at the likes but no chance to debate.

Also a firm no to an edit button. I like that people can't change what they say.

Well put. ^

The poll results (thus far) would have us believe that more people want a 'like' button, (than not.) But most of the comments say NO to one. Many people voting are not bothering to comment. Why?

This does happen quite a bit on mumsnet. e.g. the vote says YABU to something, and yet most of the comments are in agreement with the OP... It's baffling.

As you say. This thread is a case in point. Loads of people would just click LIKE on someone's post, and wouldn't bother engaging in conversation. And as I, and some others have said, it would just become a popularity contest, and the 'popular' girls would be fluffing their feathers, and smirking at how utterly correct they obviously are, because they got the most 'likes.'

I do disagree about the edit button though. Although....... it should only be for say, 90 seconds to 2 minutes max, to enable you quickly correct typos. I make them in probably around 1 in 5 or so posts I do! No matter HOW many times I check the damn draft/preview, those little fuckers still get through! Grrrrrrrr!

A button like this would be more suitable!

I think some voters might have been confused by your voting system and voted the opposite way round.

No, Chi Chi, No! No more like button!

LIKE BUTTON
(If you want one, pour yourself a large one and press here repeatedly for half an hour at 11am every day)

@Propagandalf LOL.

Yes please! I yearn for one.

@Parkerwhereareyou

I think we should have a 'fuck off you're being really mean now' button

See, that’s a prime example of why I want a like button. 👏🏻

I don't understand it when people use the AIBU topic to do a vote, it never works. Could do with a proper poll.

@Sparklingbrook

I don't understand it when people use the AIBU topic to do a vote, it never works. Could do with a proper poll.

But it is a poll.

I really wish there was a like button, I often want to show someone their post was great/I agree etc but cba to actually post anything. A like button would be awesome

But i think people read the title and do the vote @littlepattilou, so they don't see how you wanted it. A proper poll is completely different.

This sort of thing. But I guess MNHQ would have to set it up.

Fair enough @Sparklingbrook A 'proper poll' would be fab actually. I'd love that.

Some other forums I used to go on, used to have them, but several of them only allowed people to start them who had been posting for more than 3 months, OR who had more than 500 posts. To stop abuse, trolling, and spamming.

@littlepattilou

Fair enough *@Sparklingbrook* A 'proper poll' would be fab actually. I'd love that.

Some other forums I used to go on, used to have them, but several of them only allowed people to start them who had been posting for more than 3 months, OR who had more than 500 posts. To stop abuse, trolling, and spamming.

We use them a lot at work to gauge people's attitude to things. I don't know if MNHQ are interesting in the debate surrounding this any more TBF. They have said no enough times.

They say no to a lot of stuff on here because this is an aged platform and developing it costs a shit load of development effort = money they don't want to spend.

People asking for all the modern stuff you get on other modern forum software, including "proper polls" or whatever, can continue to ask as much as they like - they will continue to be disappointed. It isn't economically viable.

@daisychain01

They say no to a lot of stuff on here because this is an aged platform and developing it costs a shit load of development effort = money they don't want to spend.

People asking for all the modern stuff you get on other modern forum software, including "proper polls" or whatever, can continue to ask as much as they like - they will continue to be disappointed. It isn't economically viable.

It's such a shame, because mumsnet is fab in many ways, but a bit behind the times in other ways.

Absolutely NO reason to have no edit button, even for a minute or two to enable you to correct typos.

Then again, TWITTER has no edit button either.

I put a tweet on a few months ago, and it got 75 retweets and 200 likes within about an hour. When I looked through it again, I discovered it had a fecking spelling error. FEWMIN I was. Several people pointed it out, but most didn't.

It got 650 likes and 110 retweets in the end, but then the next day, it stalled. So a week or so later I deleted the tweet, because the error narked me so much!

@Sparklingbrook

We use them a lot at work to gauge people's attitude to things. I don't know if MNHQ are interesting in the debate surrounding this any more TBF. They have said no enough times.

True. Sadly...

@Lockheart

No but I wish we could get rid of the buttons in AIBU to get rid of the incessant polling which has nothing to do with AIBU.

I would like this if I could

I'd use a 'Like' button if there was one provided, yes.

What's worse in my opinion, is that you can't see the aibu voting on the app or link things or...

I've only voted a couple of times, that involved existing the app, finding mn on Google, finding the thread, locking into mn and then vote. I simply cba. I really really think making an app functional should be within most companies' reach (and interest).

But I did it for this thread .

Hello OP.

The edit function is one I've often thought I would like. My reading vision isn't the best and autocorrect makes so many bloody annoying errors, I sometimes read my posts back and think they look illiterate.

That said. Sometimes debates get heated, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would enable things to become twisted if a malevolent poster felt so inclined. It's quite hard to deny you've said a thing if it's there in black and white a page or so back.

As for 'Likes', that's a 'no' from me. I like a good old discussion and in most cases view difference of opinion as healthy (unless they involve something deeply personal like victim-blaming) but don't want/need validation from others in the form of 'likes'.

I don't think this is the same kind of debating platform as the likes of Twitter and Facebook. And on the whole, I'd see that as a good thing.

@Giantrooster

What's worse in my opinion, is that you can't see the aibu voting on the app or link things or...

I've only voted a couple of times, that involved existing the app, finding mn on Google, finding the thread, locking into mn and then vote. I simply cba. I really really think making an app functional should be within most companies' reach (and interest).

But I did it for this thread .

Oh I didn't realise some people couldn't see the poll.

Is it just on smartphones then? That people can't see it?

I have never logged in to mumsnet on my smartphone, so have never seen if the polls show up.

@MarieIVanArkleStinks

Hello OP.

The edit function is one I've often thought I would like. My reading vision isn't the best and autocorrect makes so many bloody annoying errors, I sometimes read my posts back and think they look illiterate.

That said. Sometimes debates get heated, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would enable things to become twisted if a malevolent poster felt so inclined. It's quite hard to deny you've said a thing if it's there in black and white a page or so back.

As for 'Likes', that's a 'no' from me. I like a good old discussion and in most cases view difference of opinion as healthy (unless they involve something deeply personal like victim-blaming) but don't want/need validation from others in the form of 'likes'.

I don't think this is the same kind of debating platform as the likes of Twitter and Facebook. And on the whole, I'd see that as a good thing.

Thanks for responding

I do agree that an edit button might make people more able to change what they've said. And on Digital Spy, I think you can change what you said, for up to an hour after you posted. On MSE, I think it's an indefinite time. But if someone QUOTES what you said, there's no getting rid, because the 'quoted' post proves what you said.

But I am FOR an edit button, if the time is quite short-ish, like 60 seconds, or maybe 90 seconds. Just so you can correct typos...