FT user acquisition didn't suffer because Milepoint had this feature and FT didn't. And is the usefulness of this board merely a function of member acquisition counts? I don't think it is at this point, since there is a critical mass here.
Originally Posted by
halls120
Same here - Milepoint has nice looking software, but is short on content. But I'd rather have valuable content over flashy looks, and I've yet to be convinced FT will be improved by adding a like function.
On other boards I visit where this feature is in use, I find it to be of no use and that it adds clutter.
I'm sure that the absence of a "like"/"helpful" button has been useful to me. It's absence has meant that some who want to agree with/thank a post (even if via a +1 or TY) has increased the odds for more discussion than would otherwise take place -- especially as once you start with a "reply" then the odds of there being more content as a result of wanting to like a post increases the likely amount of aggregate content.
While some are so extremely obsessed with the "signal to noise ratio" on FT, it is the FT running discussion element -- including with some tangents and "noise" -- that furthers the discussion and the learning that takes place on FT. If this place were just one big wiki -- or even a Facebook spin -- focused on miles and points with "facts" and nothing more, the content here would dry up pretty quickly and/or migrate elsewhere. It's the more traditional discussion dynamic that made FT what it is; and the Milepoint "feature" actually undermined discussion since "liking" was easier than posting content. Milepoint has all these "more modern bells and whistles" and had a decent core, but a critical mass is hard to achieve or sustain when a place is thin on new content and discussion is less dynamic or less likely due to the "more modern bells and whistles" ... including the "like" feature.