Pointless Thanks

[#1]

I'm not too happy about the Top Thanked Authors column.  It seems to reflect the number of posts made rather than the content, so to get more "Thanks" one needs to post more often.  This seems to be encouraging posting for the sake of it, rather than attempting to add value to the forum.

A good example of the fallacy of the current approach is in the Brexit thread.  Post something that your side agrees with (perhaps by calling the opposition cowards or bigots) and collect some "Thanks" from your side. 

Yah, sucks, boo!  Thanks to poster A.   And Yah, sucks, boo to you too!  Thanks to poster B.  Ridiculous!

Can we please get rid of it?  Top Fix Authors means something, but Top Thanked Authors merely indicates prolific posting.

[#2]

Thanks isn’t directly related to the number of posts. There is a button at the bottom of each post where you can give the person thanks for their comments.

If someone makes lots of stupid posts then chances are no one would give any of those posts any thanks, but if someone is posting lots with some good/helpful comments then these would more likely get thanks.

Personally, I’d say having more thanks is more of an indicator to the quality of the poster than the fixes.

[#3]

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@pjmarsh wrote:
Thanks isn’t directly related to the number of posts. There is a button at the bottom of each post where you can give the person thanks for their comments.

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I said "It seems to reflect the number of posts made rather than the content".   I did not say it was directly related.  For example, my thanks (54) to posts (332) ratio is 0.16; your thanks (753) to posts (3085) ratio is 0.24; the most prolific poster in General Chat has 1887 thanks for 6767 posts, a ratio of 0.28.

Thank you for explaining what the button does. I was wondering what "Click here to like/give thanks to this post" meant.

Subsequently you are saying what ought to happen, not what actually happens. Please read the rest of my initial post.

[#4]

It would be nice to exclude general chat count from the leaderboard, but not sure if it's possible or not.

[#5]

+1 to @dvorak's suggestion which if memory serves correctly was implemented on the O2 forum (also Lithium based) where posts in general chit chat didn't count to the Thanks total but more importantly didn't count towards overall forum ranking.

[#6]

I'll be honest - I don't are about the number of 'thanks' I get, or the 'ranking'. I only tend to post on three boards now -  this one, ADSL BB and Email - where it is nice, but not that important, to see one of your posts marked as a fix.

[#7]

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@dvorak wrote:
It would be nice to exclude general chat count from the leaderboard, but not sure if it's possible or not.

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I thought about this when the post first went up, I've had a scan around and can't find the option for it, I'll have a proper dig tomorrow.

[#8]

I'll be honest. I'm not on here for a thumbs up or a chance at getting a fix applied by my posts. (yes I have marked 2 fixes recently, both mine, but because I'd reached a point of why bother - hoping those threads would drop down the list to the forgotten zone).

I did, upon joining these forums, turn off the thanks part of it, but alas it only stopped me from thanking others and they still could thank me, so I turned it back on again. I do often thank others whom contribute to a thread I've started, even if I don't agree with their answers/replies. It's because they replied that I'm thanking them.

I honestly have no issues with the few users I see on here asking for a like (better slip that bit in as someone on this thread already asks!!;)), but there will come a point when I may quit here too, but that reason will only be based on BT's forums.....

The actual reason why I quit the BT forums was when more and more kept putting 'give me a thumbs up' in their signature and tbh it got way out of hand. It's was like being back in the playground. Every other post was asking for a thumbs up. So I said my bit and quit. Some understood and others did not. But I'd reached my limit so offski I was.

I'm all for not having any thanks buttons at all, though it would be nice if others acknowledged my posts by actually writing thanks. More importantly is that when others ask for help and they get it, they bother to come back to let us know.

(anyway, just my thoughts)

(and yes I gave John a thumbs up as we're kinda the same, but I lurk in most of the sections, but I don't recall ever posting in the chat section. Who knows, I might do one day)

[#9]

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@Browni wrote:
...... more importantly didn't count towards overall forum ranking.

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Doesn't  the ranking also encourage more unnecessary posting?   When an upgrade is due perhaps the moderators could consider whether the quality of the member's posts justifies an upgrade?  But I suspect they have better things to do with their time.

[#10]

we have no control over rankings etc. that's purely under the control of PN in terms on number of posts etc. any 'promotion' happens automatically.

[#11]

Is there a little thank envy here?

Thanks, promotions, and chat keeps things interesting and ticking over in between looking around the rest of the forum.

And currently what is the major thing going on with the rest of the forum? Billing problems.

And how boring and uninteresting is that. Why?

Because little help can be given by forum users where the facts with plusnets replies are deliberately hidden away for no real good reason which has been shown by some users cut and paste replies.

And it goes without saying that this forum hardly ever goes a month without something going wrong. Thanks is the least of the imaginary problems here.

[#12]

There is of course another use for the Like / Thanks button.  To show agreement or support for a point made in a post.  One simple click shows that a) I've read and understood  b) Am in general agreement. c) The count affirms a level of common assent.

I'm no great fan of the 'Most thanks'' tables, but the 'most fixes' does add a level of confidence for some responses.

[#13]

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@ffox wrote:
Doesn't  the ranking also encourage more unnecessary posting?   

The formula requires a number of things like thanks, fixes, posts and account age.

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[#14]

For me at least, the thanks button does not seem to be working today, neither does hovering the cursor over the number of thanks on a post show the names of those who have thanked it.

[#15]

There are a number of problems with the forum today...