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

Discussion in 'That's So Meta!' started by seebs, Mar 31, 2017.

  1. palindromordnilap

    palindromordnilap Well-Known Member

    The superior option to "Hugs" is, obviously, figuring out where the other member lives IRL, and showing up there offering them a hug. Way less creepy that way.
    (is joke)
     
    • Like x 3
    • Agree x 2
  2. Technicality

    Technicality All's fair in love and shitposting

    quietly meows
     
    • Agree x 2
    • Like x 1
  3. spockandawe

    spockandawe soft and woolen and writhing with curiosity

    I feel like I'm not doing a good job of wordsing the thing, sorry. Informative and useful don't mean the exact same thing, because most words have different connotations, they're very rarely exactly the same. But these are like.... cousin reactions. [sympathy noises] and *offers comfort* aren't exactly the same, but they're close enough that having a general sympathy reaction puts people in the right approximate emotional vicinity.

    Maybe definition smearing wasn't the exact right word to use, but I meant that having a reaction that clearly covers 'informative and/or useful'. Because you say you'll mainly use useful in the circumstances you encounter. But I honestly can't think of a circumstance where I'd use useful at all. If someone gives me information or has a (useful) insight, then they've informed me, just because of the nature of a text-based forum. If they link me to a (useful) resource, then it's still informative, because their action was informing me that the resource exists. That's my worldview. Even if informative went away, useful is so... incorrect for how I respond to the world that I would never use it. And obviously you feel differently.

    But since the reactions are cousins, personal definitions on what each of those responses mean are going to vary SIGNIFICANTLY. I can understand what an 'informative' response thing means, because I use that one, but I would have no idea at all what somebody was trying to say if they marked my post useful. And again, obviously you feel differently. And I assume that everyone following along with the conversation has their own interpretations that may not line up with either of us. But a 'useful and/or informative' response would cover both of those, it would hopefully be easy for either of us to intuit a likely interpretation if we received the result, and it's a more generally usable button. I like mashup words because they make me happy and they're shorter than 'useful and/or informative', but that's what I meant, as humorous shorthand to refer to the slice of the response spectrum that falls between those two reactions.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2017
    • Agree x 4
    • Like x 2
  4. Codeless

    Codeless Cheshire Cat

    I can´t really do more than restate, to me the mashup words make no sense. Because they mash words that mean different things and then what the hell does the result mean?
    I can live with Informative instead of useful if that´s what the majority prefer. I can´t live with usemative, or informful, no matter how funny they are. And I honestly would have the same problem with a mashup button sans mashwords, because either i mean useful, or i mean informative. Sometimes I mean both, but not all the time.
    I need the words to make sense and mean the thing they mean, and not some other thing.

    ^I am good at words can you tell :P
     
    • Agree x 2
  5. keltena

    keltena putting the fun in executive dysfunction

    Re: the debate on useful/informative, while I wouldn't mind combining them (I'd actually prefer it to not, though I'm not hugely invested in the matter), I would also find a wordsmush off-putting and overly confusing to anyone who hasn't participated in this discussion. Just one option that says "Useful/Informative" seems like a much better idea.

    edit: just slightly clarified phrasing
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2017
    • Agree x 4
    • Like x 2
  6. Aondeug

    Aondeug Cringe Annoying Ass Female Lobster

    I dislike the portmanteau solely on the basis that I think both informful and usemative look stupid.
     
    • Like x 5
    • Informative x 1
    • Useful x 1
  7. Stophelping

    Stophelping Building a house out of love

    And to add to the confusion, I'm finding myself offended by this effort to pare the rich vastness of human communication down to a ratings system. "Like" and "witnessed" are the only ones I see any use to, everything else is just noise. I prefer people actually @ me like civilized apes instead of leaving a drive-by poke I can't interact with.
     
  8. devian

    devian Well-Known Member

    I like this explanation, and would like to say that this is basically my opinion on combining options in general. I feel like as long as there's an option in about the right emotional vicinity, and as long as that option doesn't have inherent problems of its own (the way Hugs does), then it should be okay to have just that option, and there don't need to be multiple cousins just because they technically mean different things.

    Which is why I don't like Funny, for example, because it's basically a subset of Like and is therefore redundant, and I would prefer as few options as possible to avoid brain overload.

    This is personal opinion/need, though, I am a sperg so I fully understand why some people prefer more precise options :P
     
    • Agree x 6
  9. spockandawe

    spockandawe soft and woolen and writhing with curiosity

    I'm totally the worst about nitpicking definitions and connotations and context most of the time. It's just in this one case, especially as definitions are sliced thinner in the same emotional territory, every extra button shuts me out altogether just a bit more. I understand why the buttons are happening. But balancing needs would be really, really awesome. And I mostly feel like the most awful no-fun-allowed killjoy every time I post here. It isn't a terribly rewarding experience. But I have a hard time participating in social anything, anywhere, anytime. Even online, I was on the forum for like a year before I really nerved myself into jumping in. And it's kind of awful watching people suggest more and more additions with diminishing returns that will only make me struggle worse.
     
    • Agree x 7
  10. Codeless

    Codeless Cheshire Cat

    While I would Prefer both, i can be ok having just one button, It just has to be one or the other, not a mashup.
    I don´t think there will be more buttons, since funny and hugs are going, if that helps? Acknowledged is gonna be new but that´s one for two.
    Did I miss more (serious) button suggestions? (I am assuming the meows are not serious)
     
    • Agree x 1
  11. michinyo

    michinyo On that Dumb Bitch Juice diet

    As the person you threatened to track down, I find this joke in poor taste and I'm honestly triggered by it.
     
    • Agree x 2
  12. Verily

    Verily surprised Xue Yang peddler

    I'd far rather lose some reactions, even if I find them useful (or informative) than lose @spockandawe.
     
    • Like x 2
    • Agree x 1
  13. seebs

    seebs Benevolent Dictator

    It occurred to me that if you could have the ratings display the name of the user whose post or account was involved, you could have a rating of "[username] no" but I think this would be of marginal utility with users other than me.
     
    • Like x 4
  14. seebs

    seebs Benevolent Dictator

    Anyway, for actual ideas: I am inclined to think that it makes sense to reduce the set of reactions more than to grow it. Because these aren't intended to solve every problem. The actual original problem was just "we have circumstances where liking posts seems like a bad idea but you want to express thing but also words are hard". That, and the specific thing of wanting a way to react to posts to indicate that they've been seen and processed. Because if I tried to reply to every individual post directed at me in a busy thread it'd be 2x-3x as much posting and that would be super annoying.

    So, how about "Like", "Witnessed", and... I dunno, maybe just those two for a while, see how it goes?
     
    • Like x 1
    • Agree x 1
  15. devian

    devian Well-Known Member

    see this is sort of thing is why I want a Relatable button

    highly relatable content, this here
     
    • Agree x 4
  16. Codeless

    Codeless Cheshire Cat

    Can we keep agree? I find it really useful.
     
    • Agree x 14
  17. Mendacity

    Mendacity I’m meaner than my demons

    I'd prefer to also have 'agree'
     
    • Agree x 9
  18. Technicality

    Technicality All's fair in love and shitposting

    I agree about agree
     
    • Agree x 9
  19. Aqua Vitae

    Aqua Vitae put some honey and sea water by your bed.

    Please for an "Agree/Relatable" mashup button along with "Like" and "Witnessed".
     
    • Agree x 4
  20. Codeless

    Codeless Cheshire Cat

    Please no mashups. I´d prefer less buttons over mashups
     
    • Like x 1
    • Agree x 1
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