Originally Posted by
anabolism
True, but if there is a "helpful" button that is used to mark posts that contain helpful information (as opposed to simply posts or posters liked by someone) this could be a good step towards making FT more useful to more people. Even if old threads or old posts (e.g., more than a few years) are discounted and viewed as less helpful despite the 'helpful' button on posts.
Possibly no, in which case we're no worse off than now. But there is a chance that it could be a step forward, especially if combined with a way to view threads that only shows such posts.
Obviously, those actively participating in threads would want to see all posts and would respond to some. But those who do as we implore and use the search feature to find information may wish to view long threads (with thousands of posts) with only 'helpful' posts visible.
What makes anyone sure that the posts/members being cliqued (intentional Freudian slip) as "helpful" are not just noted for reasons that are not limited to your idea of "helpful information"? Keep in mind that the idea of what is helpful and not may vary from one reasonable person to another reasonable person. Are we to have FTers suspended for no other reason than having a different opinion of what constitutes "helpful" when using the "like"/"helpful" notation in an "unpopular" (with a clique) way?
The "do a search" (or not doing it) stuff will continue -- probably just as much as usual -- with or without this feature enabled for general member play. The more complicated a forum becomes, the harder it may become for new/less-experienced members to separate signal from noise as the like/helpful games would enable another source for noise on FT. Din can be entertaining, but it can also lead to tin ears and more din.
Is there going to be a search feature for only "liked"/"helpful" noted posts? Is it going to default by pulling up every post with one "like"/"helpful" notation? Will members be able to note their own post as "like"/"helpful"? The answer to that last question is probably no, right?
The more I think about this, this feature being turned on for us plebes can make FT a more entertaining place if your idea of entertainment is the OMNI Games type threads. Want a lot of "likes"/"helpful" notes? Then play the popularity games and become a member of the clique that clicks for members of the clique and run up those counters (masked or not).