I like to hate… 
Careful Mitch. Before you know it the power of the dark side will consume you 
It already has… 
see:
http://meta.discourse.org/t/should-down-voting-be-core-functionality-in-discourse/40
Discourse is a 
system, none of the rainbow colors are hate in the core product. If you want to tarnish the rainbow with gooey crude oil, go for it, but its going to have to be in a plugin.
2 Likes
@sam This was intended to be a half humorous post, I do not really want a “hate” button, it was simply a tongue-in-cheek comment on a social system that allows you to like something without being able to dislike it… and my general dislike of the “like” system… 
Hi Sam,
Reading that topic and the comments here, I feel it’s strange times we are living in.
Not directed to you personally, but I want to say:
Apparently downvoting without explanation is considered passive-aggressive and unacceptable.
However liking without explanations (which is basically just the same), does not contribute much to a discussion as there is no way to tell what the reasoning behind the liking is. I do not care for social-media websites to have such features, but on discourse I’d expect less fluff.
Liking does not contribute anything to a good discourse; or does anyone disagree?
-Willem
1 Like
Liking if used correctly has it’ benefits.
If you say: “Mitch, I disagree, that idea of yours is counter productive, because it requires that we have to pay more attention to things that does not matter.” Then i can “like” that, as it is a straight, to the point comment. Or I can post an “I agree with Willem” post, same thing. But I don’t want to “heart” it. I don’t “love” what you wrote. I just agree.
And the idea of having a “hate” button is just as awful as a heart. But a Thumbs up, thumbs down can work, as it is a quick and easy way to get people to show their general feeling for the topic. Just like with Youtube. I see nothing bad in that like, dislike. But this does not play well with the option to edit a topic. Unless an edit keeps the edited part as overlined, and the new additions as bold tekst, so we can tell what’s new and what’s old apart.
And we all know that if you would click disagree and don’t care to comment, then you only disagree a little bit.
-j
thumbsup:
1 Like
Here I do not agree… I can like something and that imply that I agree with what has been said. Writing “I agree with what you said because I think the same way” is more or less superfluous.
But if I disagree, I should explain why, explain my point of view, and ideally make a proposition.
3 Likes
Hi Marc,
Maybe I did too much programming, but upvoting or downvoting without an explanation to me is of the same order.
In another thread I read the statement that a downvote is to easy to make; when asked to clarify the downvote and reasoning behind it, many times one might not be able to actually give a good explanation what it is that made one downvote. The same applies to an upvote:
If a post is liked, there is no discourse, no discussion just hear! hear!.
No way to tell if it’s a populist remark or valid argument.
If you would have replied like this:
(or less elaborate) It gives me an opportunity to reply to you as a “liker”, I can ask you questions, and continue the discussion:
- “But then how would you solve this or that?”
- “Can you elaborate on how in your line of work this is not inefficient?”
- “Does that mean you have another way of doing this or that?”
I think a “like” is good for creating hierarchy between users and their posts. That in my opinion is a seed for creating an environment of patronizing, bigotry and worse.
-Willem
1 Like
Wow, I dunno if I shall 
or 
… Hm, think I’ll just go for a 
I also disagree with you. Sometimes I use it simply to confirm that I’ve read a post directed at me without polluting the the thread with an extra post that just says “thanks.” Often, it just means I agree and have nothing more to add. If I post a suggestion and 37 “likes” get tagged onto the post, we’ll know it’s a popular idea. But if you disagree with something, you should take the time to say just what you disagree with and why. Like I’m doing with your post right now. 
1 Like
Having “likes” doesn’t removes the ability to make positive and elaborate comments!
1 Like
Agreed. 
But having “likes” eases the requirement of just saying “+1” like in the old newsgroup, merely to state that you totally agree with and want to promote the idea of the post. 
2 Likes