UPDATE FROM MNHQ - new Hidden Gratitude feature

[YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet]

Today we’re launching a new feature called Hidden Gratitude. We’ve had many requests over the years for a like button on Mumsnet but shared concerns that some have expressed about it being a bit reductive and possibly turning discussions into a popularity contest.

Nonetheless, we think it would be nice to be able to thank posters for a particularly helpful or generous post. Hidden Gratitude is an easy way to show appreciation but as the name suggests, there will be no publicly visible 'like' count, only the user who has been given thanks can see it.

All you need to do is hit the “thanks” icon on the post you want to appreciate. The poster will receive a notification which will let them know who has “thanked” them. That’s it!

And, before you ask - at the time of writing we have no plans to introduce a hidden ingratitude button…

AutumnCrow

some the royal family topic lot do this,

Yes, it's rife there.

now that they've calmed down a bit from mentioning all the 'thanks' they're getting.

I saw someone else mention that - went and had a quick look but didn't see where it was. That was definitely something I thought would happen and, of course, with the "thanks" being hidden it would be easy to lie about it, if anyone was so minded.

Odd, given your interesting analysis of how emojis squire meaning, that you don’t ascribe “sympathy” or “comfort” to the bunch of flowers. That’s what I always read it as.

Yes, it def has that meaning too. I think it is also used in connection with 'thanks' though. In fact, I had this weirdly certain feeling that you could get the flowers emoji by typing ''. But as you can see, that doesn't happen. Did it, I wonder, in MN's past or is that just a fever dream of mine?

WAit!! WTF!!! Bracketted 'thanks' didn't automatically come up with the flowers emoji when I typed it but is displaying as flowers in the actual post!! <twilight zone music>

Oooh.

Urrgh! All the "I thanked your post but also want the world to know that I did so" posts are so annoying. You either give the "hidden" thanks or simply post the same thing you did as normal.

I know people will always find a way to ruin things. This hidden thanks feature was a bit of a compromise between either having the insufferable public 'like' button and not at all but posters announcing on a thread that they got thanked or they thanked a specific poster or will thank the poster back is basically doing the opposite of what it's for and like some have said, the feature becomes pointless.

You may as well post and say you agreed/thanks/backslap/'this' as usual.

I can see this being run to the ground in heated debates. Can't wait for the block button so I can hide anyone who posts juvenile crap like that.

That said, I've used the thank button a few times to respond to posters who replied to me. If I had nothing (further) to say to them, it's my way of acknowledging their post without completely ignoring them. It feels rude to just ignore someone who's addressed me, either irl or online, and it's always bothered me when I did. For that reason, I like this feature and this is probably how I'll mainly use it.

Since the thanks button has come in, I don't like posting replies to threads anymore in case anyone clicks it, as my anxiety means that when I get notified of a "thanks" button, I go back to the post and have to re-read it 4-5 times to check what I said was ok and try and work out why someone liked it. This is why I abandoned Facebook, I start obsessing over everything I say. I really don't like it.

Just disable the email notifications for them then. You’ll only know you’ve been thanked if you go back and look at your own post.

How do you thank someone anonymously? Twice now I have been thanked from “Anonymous user” rather than a username.

Ooh, interesting. @MNHQ?

I never get told who has thanked me, just “a user”.

Off-topic, sorry, but am I the only one getting a cookie consent box popping up every single time I click on a thread/notification today? Every time I post, as well?

Really annoying!

When you click on the thanks on the post it normally tells you the username of who thanked you.

For example, if you click on the thanks icon on the post you have just posted it should say my username as I have just thanked you to demonstrate.

Oh yes, thank you!

I have been using it as a “like” button, tbh.

MNHQ, any update on how you thank someone anonymously? I have had 4 more thanks from “Anonymous user” rather than a username.

If you go to your thanked post and click on the “Thanks” button underneath it, you get a list of the usernames who’ve thanked you. I’ll thank your post above so you can give it a try.

Yes, that normally happens, but on some of mine it says “Anonymous user” rather than a username.

Oh! That’s weird!

…and oops, didn’t realise it was you who told me that just a couple of posts upthread, sorry!

It’s OK.