Rating System (was: what even are social noises round N+1)

i'm not 100% sure but my current theory is that it doesn't give you notifications for consecutive ratings of the same type

 

But, see, I'm not actually expressing approval of the opinion, and I'm not sympathizing with the opinion, I just think it is good to give people internet points for saying things that I would not otherwise have seen, because it is [positive word] for me to be able to take them into account afterwards.

 

I wouldn't necessarily read "informative" or "useful" as agreeing or sympathetic. "Useful" especially seems pretty neutral to me, because it can be very useful to have the opinions of people you don't agree with.

 

OK, no, I got it, my brain's definition of "interesting" is what y'all are currently using to mean "informative", and my brain's definition of "informative" is your definition of "Useful".

Um.

This doesn't mean I can't still complain, but I guess there exists a mapping and internal logic.

 

i'd be okay with hugs if in parenthesis next to it it said "if you want"

 

okay, i can see that. it just personally feels like an action either way to me and being hugged, especially without consent and/or no way out of it, is a huge trigger for me. i appreciate and understand the sentiment but it's a hard no without some modification there for me.

 

Petition to replace "Hugs" with "Huge".

 

Suggestion: Add "Don´t 'hug' someone unlss you are sure they are ok with this" somwhere in guidelines everyone has to see.

 

I propose 'Like', 'Agree', '#Relatable', and '[Social Noise]'

 

consider: thanks, seebs

 

I definitely think that 'Relatable' should be a response, but I'm not too certain on 'Interesting'. I mean, can I see myself using it? Yes. Can I see myself using it often? Probably not.

Also, keeping up Informative would also help, but I might have some overlap with it and Interesting, and yet, the two aren't interchangeable. I wouldn't find a headcanon post Informative, I wouldn't say a post that's about troubleshooting Interesting. But give me some new facts on a thing that I like and I'll probably bounce between the two before deciding on one or just Liking in general.

Also, Winner. It's useless but I love it. (Maybe in the theoretical grey space between Informative and Interesting? o: )

But yeah, I think it's for the best if Hugs go. While I can understand a competing access needs issue, I think that most people have been vocal about how much the implication of forced personal contact would distress them, and even for those who wouldn't be distressed, there's something impersonal about it when it's a button clicked when it should be a personal gesture. For those you're close enough to, the implication would come along with 'witnessed'. For those you aren't, it may be unwelcome.

Having a line in the guidelines wouldn't help either, because then you have the varying flavors of trash brain that result in memory issues, and there's the risk of assumptions happening based on how others have reacted.

Spoiler: Rambling in an example

For instance, say I'm okay with three people - three specific users on this entire site - using the Hugs emote. If I post something in my vent thread, and one of those three people reads it immediately once the notif goes off and clicks on Hugs, I'm okay with that.

And then someone who means well sees the post in the sidebar and decides to check in. They decide to offer comfort, and rather than use the spoons to ask, they see that someone else has offered Hugs, and click that very same button.

Behold, distress.

Now, you could say that I should just put those exceptions to my no-Hugs rule in my signature or the first post or somewhere, but that would assume that the person has signatures enabled and/or looked at that post of my thread. That would also assume that I would be able to post a list of users without getting myself into a downwards spiral over fear of my boundaries being seen as a form of exclusion or clique behaviour.

That would also also assume that those users stick to the listed account and not a sub, which could cause a potential 'BUT X DID IT' and having to out X as Y. But now I'm just spinning off into all sorts of complications.

 

Seebs posts appeared, I am not sure when they appeared but I didn't see them until now, so comments on Seebs posts:

I was actually thinking a Thanks button would be nice for that reason, so I would be on board with that. Also I've seen likes used before as a "thanks for answering my question" or "thanks for the response" sort of thing, so it would fit would current usage. Informative does sort of work for this purpose currently, though. I think I personally would prefer Thanks, but Informative might be better because it has a broader range of uses.

Also I immensely enjoy YggiDee's suggestion of [Social Noise], but I have no idea if that's actually practical :P

There do seem to be people who like Hugs, but there are also people who don't like it. So I am not sure what to do with that one, because someone will be unhappy either way :/

Though, I do think if it gets dropped it should be replaced with Comfort or Sympathy or something that conveys a similar impression, because that is a useful thing to be able to convey.

 

shouldn't that be "lik"?

 

I actually did keep reading "liked your post" as "licked your post".

 

Also, I'd suggest adding an "Okay" rating.