Like?

wagdog

All;

Let me start off by saying I haven’t been on this forum long. I got here through my interest in using Loopy Pro for performances. I also don’t know much about forum software, although I once ran a forum over 15 years ago, maybe longer.

Maybe this topic has been discussed here before?

Would it be possible to add a “like” feature to the forum? I’m not out for social media points, not my thing. I’ve found the “like” feature is useful to show appreciation for some help, or to indicate you read a reply, without adding an additional post and clutter.

Thanks, appreciate you all!

Robin2

Yeah, it’s certainly been mentioned before but can’t remember why it was decided against or even whether it was a technical or other problem people had with it.

Personally, I think it would be a good feature to have. Many’s the time I appreciate what someone’s said but don’t want to post a comment just to say that.

And, let’s be honest, if you post something and nobody responds to it, it doesn’t feel great! Having a Like button would lessen (though obviously not eliminate) the chance of feeling completely ignored and invisible, which can only be good thing surely?

jwmmakerofmusic

@Robin2 said:
Yeah, it’s certainly been mentioned before but can’t remember why it was decided against or even whether it was a technical or other problem people had with it.

Personally, I think it would be a good feature to have. Many’s the time I appreciate what someone’s said but don’t want to post a comment just to say that.

And, let’s be honest, if you post something and nobody responds to it, it doesn’t feel great! Having a Like button would lessen (though obviously not eliminate) the chance of feeling completely ignored and invisible, which can only be good thing surely?

Exactly. I post my music a lot, and I hardly get any comments. A like button would be useful. Let's see what @Michael and/or @wim say.

H34rtc0r3

I think we've both been on forums run by the Discourse platform where the feature you're asking about is available. Unfortunately, the Vanilla platform doesn't seem to have the "like" feature.

But the administrators, whoever they are, might know more than I do. I can't find anything about it on Vanilla's website

That said, it would be a dream if forum.loopypro.com switched to the Discourse platform
"Like"-function, easier scrolling and bookmarks for everyone! And more Emojis

wagdog

@Robin2 said:

Many’s the time I appreciate what someone’s said but don’t want to post a comment just to say that.

This is a biggy for me. That and what @jwmmakerofmusic said. I don’t want to clutter the space up here but definitely want to show appreciation for good content, especially posted music.

rapidfire

@jwmmakerofmusic said:

@Robin2 said:
Yeah, it’s certainly been mentioned before but can’t remember why it was decided against or even whether it was a technical or other problem people had with it.

Personally, I think it would be a good feature to have. Many’s the time I appreciate what someone’s said but don’t want to post a comment just to say that.

And, let’s be honest, if you post something and nobody responds to it, it doesn’t feel great! Having a Like button would lessen (though obviously not eliminate) the chance of feeling completely ignored and invisible, which can only be good thing surely?

Exactly. I post my music a lot, and I hardly get any comments. A like button would be useful. Let's see what @Michael and/or @wim say.

I used to be a member of a music site called DMusic.com from 2007 -2011, it was based in America, we all either collaborated with other musicians worldwide or did our own solo songs, it was common curtesy to add a comment after listening to a users music, whether it be praise or critique, that habit has stuck with me and I always leave feedback on any music I listen to on this forum.
A “like” button would be good but not very flattering to the musician who worked on his piece to the best of his abilities, a “like” button does not convey the listener’s listening experience IMO.
Mike

jwmmakerofmusic

@wagdog said:

@Robin2 said:

Many’s the time I appreciate what someone’s said but don’t want to post a comment just to say that.

This is a biggy for me. That and what @jwmmakerofmusic said. I don’t want to clutter the space up here but definitely want to show appreciation for good content, especially posted music.

See this makes sense, not wanting to clutter space. But then again, my latest piece still goes without comment.

---

@rapidfire said:

@jwmmakerofmusic said:

@Robin2 said:
Yeah, it’s certainly been mentioned before but can’t remember why it was decided against or even whether it was a technical or other problem people had with it.

Personally, I think it would be a good feature to have. Many’s the time I appreciate what someone’s said but don’t want to post a comment just to say that.

And, let’s be honest, if you post something and nobody responds to it, it doesn’t feel great! Having a Like button would lessen (though obviously not eliminate) the chance of feeling completely ignored and invisible, which can only be good thing surely?

Exactly. I post my music a lot, and I hardly get any comments. A like button would be useful. Let's see what @Michael and/or @wim say.

I used to be a member of a music site called DMusic.com from 2007 -2011, it was based in America, we all either collaborated with other musicians worldwide or did our own solo songs, it was common curtesy to add a comment after listening to a users music, whether it be praise or critique, that habit has stuck with me and I always leave feedback on any music I listen to on this forum.
A “like” button would be good but not very flattering to the musician who worked on his piece to the best of his abilities, a “like” button does not convey the listener’s listening experience IMO.
Mike

This is true, but if someone does like the music and doesn't know how to convey their feelings in words, the like button would save me and others from feeling like nobody cares. I mean, I will still make and post music, but a like button would make all the difference for me personally.

If it's not able to be done in Vanilla, that's fine. If it IS able to be achieved in Vanilla, I hope it can be added. 🙏

wagdog

@jwmmakerofmusic said:

This is true, but if someone does like the music and doesn't know how to convey their feelings in words, the like button would save me and others from feeling like nobody cares. I mean, I will still make and post music, but a like button would make all the difference for me personally.

If it's not able to be done in Vanilla, that's fine. If it IS able to be achieved in Vanilla, I hope it can be added. 🙏

I look at like this; My musical outlet is playing live.

When I perform, I appreciate applause. Sometimes people will come up to me and tell me something they liked, or interact, and I like that too. But applause is good enough, I appreciate it. It means they heard what I did, and appreciated it enough to clap.

Applause is the “like” button.

jwmmakerofmusic

@wagdog said:

@jwmmakerofmusic said:

This is true, but if someone does like the music and doesn't know how to convey their feelings in words, the like button would save me and others from feeling like nobody cares. I mean, I will still make and post music, but a like button would make all the difference for me personally.

If it's not able to be done in Vanilla, that's fine. If it IS able to be achieved in Vanilla, I hope it can be added. 🙏

I look at like this; My musical outlet is playing live.

When I perform, I appreciate applause. Sometimes people will come up to me and tell me something they liked, or interact, and I like that too. But applause is good enough, I appreciate it. It means they heard what I did, and appreciated it enough to clap.

Applause is the “like” button.

Excellent way of putting it, my friend. I hope a like button can be implemented, even if only in the Creations section. 🙏

wim

A like button has been proposed and discussed more than once in the past. The feature was enabled at one point years ago but was later dropped for reasons that I no longer recall.

Sorry, I don't have an opinion on the subject. I don't think it's granular per category, so I think it would be a site-wide feature. Either way, enabling such a feature isn't a part of my role.

Cheers,
Mike

Gavinski

I'm personally against adding Like buttons. And I think I remember from the previous discussion here that a good chunk of forum members were against them. There are pros, sure, but there are also cons.

I feel we have enough of Likes on other social media sites. They can become a popularity contest. They can be a poor indicator of post quality too, as they're ambiguous. Is this person liking the post or the person behind the post, etc. They can subtly change people's behaviour, nudging them towards saying and doing things that seem to get likes. They can also, as mentioned, actually lead to less comment.

Loopy Pro Forum is an old school respite from all that social media bs. I think it's good as it is.

Worth mentioning too - on social media, Likes generally play a part in feeding the algorithm. But this site doesn’t use algorithms to decide how, where or whether posts or threads appear.

5alien

@Gavinski said:
I'm personally against adding Like buttons. And I think I remember from the previous discussion here that a good chunk of forum members were against them. There are pros, sure, but there are also cons.

I feel we have enough of Likes on other social media sites. They can become a popularity contest. They can be a poor indicator of post quality too, as they're ambiguous. Is this person liking the post or the person behind the post, etc. They can subtly change people's behaviour, nudging them towards saying and doing things that seem to get likes. They can also, as mentioned, actually lead to less comment.

Loopy Pro Forum is an old school respite from all that social media bs. I think it's good as it is.

Worth mentioning too - on social media, Likes generally play a part in feeding the algorithm. But this site doesn’t use algorithms to decide how, where or whether posts or threads appear.

Totally agree with @Gavinski here, our society is too much driven by these scoring systems.

Gavinski

@5alien said:

@Gavinski said:
I'm personally against adding Like buttons. And I think I remember from the previous discussion here that a good chunk of forum members were against them. There are pros, sure, but there are also cons.

I feel we have enough of Likes on other social media sites. They can become a popularity contest. They can be a poor indicator of post quality too, as they're ambiguous. Is this person liking the post or the person behind the post, etc. They can subtly change people's behaviour, nudging them towards saying and doing things that seem to get likes. They can also, as mentioned, actually lead to less comment.

Loopy Pro Forum is an old school respite from all that social media bs. I think it's good as it is.

Worth mentioning too - on social media, Likes generally play a part in feeding the algorithm. But this site doesn’t use algorithms to decide how, where or whether posts or threads appear.

Totally agree with @Gavinski here, our society is too much driven by these scoring systems.

Trust me, as someone who has YouTube sticking metrics down my throat every day in a bid to manipulate me into doing more (very poorly paid) work for them, I think I have a fair bit of insight into the dangers of metrics.

For anyone interested in this topic, I’d really highly recommend this book:

The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game: Nguyen, C. Thi

wagdog

I get and understand the drawbacks of having a like button.

I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for the reasons outlined above.

I’m hopeful it is a possibility here. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it, but I’d definitely like to see it happen.

tubespace

I would love a "like" button. It would be extremely encouraging for many artists here. I firmly believe the pros outweigh the cons.

jwmmakerofmusic

I'm with @wagdog and @tubespace . Pros definitely far outweigh the cons of having a "like" button here. If it's feasible for @Michael to implement it, I for sure would like one. (Oh dear, Dad jokes galore. 😂 )

wim

It is feasible and is possibly as easy as flipping a switch, unless it messes with the form stylesheet in some way that takes a bit more time to sort out. There's a Vanilla forum plugin for it, and as I mentioned before, was tried for a time long ago and it was decided it wasn't working out well. I remember that, though not specifically why.

Put me down in the "meh" category as a user (not moderator). I don't have any opinion as a moderator. It'd have to be Michael's call anyway.

Keep in mind, it's a global forum setting. That means every post. Music or not. Love ya' all to pieces music content creators, but not enough to be excited about having that layer of blech all over the rest of the forum.

I can, however, see how it would make expressing appreciation for musical content so much easier. I'll admit to not saying anything much of the time because ... I don't know what to say that doesn't sound banal.

But at least, in the rare cases I do comment, it's sincere and I put some thought into it. I don't know if it means much if I took a total of 1 second to mash a like button. I guess if it makes you feel better, that's good, but it wouldn't do anything for me if I was posting music. To me low "cost" means low value when it comes to opinions.

Then there's the implied "What? Nobody likes this? That comes if your expectation of how many likes there should be isn't met. That's discouraging.

Nope. My personal opinion only. Not useful. No matter what angle I look at it from. But that's just me.

GeoTony

I don’t often comment on anything other than creations but I tend to agree with Wim on this one.
I can’t see what the issue is tbh.
Hitting a ‘Like’ button is one key press.
Hitting a 🙏 and ‘Post Comment’ is 2.
Are people so busy that they can’t afford an extra key press especially when they have just spent anything from a few minutes to an hour or so listening to the piece of music ?
Just my opinion etc etc…

jwmmakerofmusic

@wim "I don't know what to say that doesn't sound banal". If you appreciate the piece of music, it doesn't matter how banal it sounds, mate. Any comment will do to motivate the person to continue creating music for all to enjoy here. A "like" button will help those who don't want to sound banal to give motivation to a person to continue creating music for all to enjoy here.

@GeoTony Right, but I rarely get comments on my music, and without a like button, I don't know what to think. This is the problem. Other people seem to draw regular compliments, "banal" or not. Then again, after rereading Wim's reply, I can see how a "like" button wouldn't necessarily solve the issue of feeling ignored.