Likes considered harmful?
@dave Seriously, though -- the (un)funniest, most maddening feedback occurs when you stop writing something, then someone pops up and asks why you stopped because they liked it. Sure. Would have been good to know at the time. I've always avoided the Like button in favor of comments, because "liking" always seemed so vapid. Likes seemed cheap, but a few words seemed to have some value. (In my head at least). But likes are surely better than nothing, eh.
@dave Seconded. I’ve been on micro.blog — though mostly inactive — since the Kickstarter campaign. It’s never taken. I get no traction there, even with people I’ve had discussions with on Twitter. It’s posting into the void. My numbers on Twitter, Instagram, & Mastodon have always been modest, but enough to encourage continued use. Micro.blog seems like a great site but, for me, it doesn’t work. I wish it weren’t so, and I wish Manton and Jane nothing but success with it.
@dave @davew All good points. I like the comparison to a head nod. Fortunately for our psyches, there is no one keeping track of the exact number of small non-verbal signs of appreciation we get in real life throughout the day, and we definitely don't keep track of other people's statistics. Maybe @manton could make the micro.blog "nod" ephemeral?
@dave While I understand the concern there is an issue of how to indicate a simply approving of the post vs having commentary on a post. One thing I know I hate on any platform is scrolling through pages of “good post” responses looking for the responses that add to the conversation. A favourite button is a way of upvoting a post without littering the timeline with form responses.
i honestly don't understand why this is such a big issue. you realize all the footprints you leave as you travel through the web.
why don't we get some expert advice on this topic from people who study this stuff?
not sure where to find Doc Searls these days but he's the guy i'd ask.
doc if you can hear me??
For example, here's the feed for my Likes.
http://data.feedland.org/likes/davewiner.xml
And here's the one for all users.
Personally, I don't care about the likes and have installed extensions to turn off showing the numbers on Twitter. If likes are there, some people *will* chase them, no? And that will create a certain kind of atmosphere, which Manton and Jene are trying to avoid. Just a guess.
Side note: I like FeelLand — a lot — and keep meaning to make a few "products" of my own. Thank you for making it!
@milos @davew Exactly, that was the original reason Micro.blog avoided public likes: I didn't want it to be a popularity contest with some posts seeming "more important" because they had more likes. Same for not showing follower counts. Platforms with counts inevitably become algorithmic-driven too, like Mastodon's new Explore section.
@davew @manton This could work in providing useful feedback to the poster without encouraging popularity contests.
And if the poster can choose *not* to see the numbers it would be hard to argue against (but I don't doubt that people still would).
It would be nice-to-have but not essential on micro.blog for me, though, so if other features/stability take priority so be it.
@dave They do a lot of things wrong at Instagram, but I think they're onto something with the way they handle likes; "liked by Joebob and others" -- it shows that people have acknowledged and appreciated the post, without turning it into a popularity contest.
@davew @milos @manton I feel the same way. I started a photo a day blog years ago, and I stopped updating it for long periods because I couldn't tell anybody was looking at it. Sometimes I get personal replies from people on micro.blog, and those are always very much appreciated. But when I'm viewing other people's posts, often I want to express appreciation but don't have anything worthwhile to write in a full reply.
@davew @manton I think I see what you mean! Well, hiding it from other users would be a good compromise.
On the other hand, Mastodon is there, and not having likes at all is a nice and simple differentiator for m.blog. It certainly got me hooked.
This stuff is hard and bless all of you for putting so much work into it.
@BrianCordanYoung @dave I recognize that feeling, and it's often 50-50 whether or not I actually hit the 'publish' button on a comment or post.