[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I think that you're being overly cynical in some of your assessments.

Yes, I am, because I did not feel that the just-retired system was that broken to begin with and, even then, many people got upset over receiving negrep that A) ultimately didn't matter, because the more heavily weighted posrep would have eventually rendered the negrep moot; B) was just part of a game that wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

The fact that we constantly saw people whining about receiving negrep is to me a signal that a majority of people here did in fact treat the game too seriously. So much for having a bit of harmless fun, and so much for believing that people can be mature enough to take the brickbats along with the praise.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Suppose someone's a newcomer to Yahoo! Singapore's news pages, and don't yet know what the predominant political opinions of its commentators are. Well, seeing all the anti-government, anti-mainstream posts get lots of likes will be very telling right away of what most of the people who read and comment on those news pages think.

I don't see how having such information ("Well, they clearly like anti-government, anti-mainstream opinions here") can be harmful. Isn't it good to have as clear an idea as possible of what you're getting into before you post?

The cynical joke among most Singaporeans is that we're champion complainers but are cowards when asked to make a stand. And local journalists will be among the first to tell you that people are quick to clam up the moment people are invited to say something for the record. So, in my experience, these overwhelming "likes" for anti-government online posts are just people venting their frustrations in the ugliest and most childish ways possible, and are far from representative of what people would really think and say if they are forced to stand by what their comments.

In other words, they're trolls, people who enjoy spouting rubbish online in full knowledge that there is little that can be done about them so long as they remain anonymous.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

If "liking" posts reveals the popular anime taste preferences of Anime Suki's userbase, then I think that can be similarly informative.

I don't think that Anime Suki alone will create such an illusion. I think that most heavy internet users are well-aware of exactly what you're referring to here. Knowing what's popular on Anime Suki won't change that.

And meanwhile, people will be discouraged from saying what's unpopular because of all that "useful" information out there showing what's popular.

Honestly, I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this issue, as we're clearly arguing over an ideological chasm. As I've already highlighted in my first post on this thread, the reputation system as it existed ended up being a popularity contest that people took too seriously. As a result, it also began to have a chilling effect in that it discouraged people from saying anything they knew was unpopular.

If people couldn't handle such a system, despite how inconsequential the negreps were relative to posreps, I am not optimistic they can handle a "likes" system, which leads to the same kind of populism. So, let's just do away with it completely. I strongly believe it will be for the better.

Originally Posted by sayde

With regards to a like/dislike system vs the issue of simply leaving neutral rep, I'm not generally a big advocate of the like/dislike system only because I prefer to know a little more. For instance, why did you like my post? Or why did you dislike it? Leaving neutral rep as a way to express such feedback seems like it would fall in line better with the intended goal of making this site the most "engaging, and insightful community for Anime and related discussion" as even quick comments can still provide some level of engagement and insightfulness (or at least more so in comparison to a thumbs up or down.)

To be fair, papermario's idea was also about facilitating feedback:

Originally Posted by papermario13689

Basically, each post comes with an icon that one can click like on (like with Facebook, but proper, as I'll explain). The user who liked the post would appear by username for the poster, and for others it shows the total number of likes from their side. From there, the posters could directly link to the user's visitor pages for further conversation, leaving the clutter in the threads at a minimum. Any disagreements are just carried out in replies on threads and VMs as always, which could always be reported if irresponsible.

I don't mind having the feedback channel. I'm just opposed to the pseudo "likes" system, which I feel is totally unnecessary since we've decided to give up the reputation system.

And, oh yeah, the point about "private flame wars"? It is about as likely to happen in the "likes" system as in the "neutral rep" one. They won't go away, with or without negreps. That's why I always felt people should just grow a thicker skin, because the root problem didn't lie in the neg-repping as it did with people who just felt like being a jerk. And such people are for the moderators to handle, and I find they've generally handled such trouble-makers quite well.