Changing 'mark this post as helpful' to 'thank you' VOTING CONCLUDED

[Chris_B]

Hi everyone, we've had a suggestion in the forum improvements thread about changing the title of the button below each post called 'mark this post as helpful'.

It has been suggested that we change the title of this button to 'thank you'.

Thoughts?

[Quercus]

Good point Chris!

I click helpful to other's replues and then sometimes feel weird when my own comment has none. But that is my own insecurity rearing it's ugly head.

I'm a firm believer of a reply being the best feeling of all. Even if it's "I read your post and it really made me think. Thankyou." or "I can't reply right now but I read what you wrote and care".

So far Starwolf's suggestion is my favourite.. Thank you for sharing. Love this.

[Mia001]

Hi Chris,

That's definitely a good point that I didn't think of. It would might make some feel more left out. Hmmm....

Mia

[MsPurple]

HI Chris and everyone

I am happy for it to stay as it is, I am not too keen on the idea of changing it to thank you. When I post I never really expect to get the 'helpful' button. For me it is a bonus. I only expect it if it really sits with someone, or the information is exactly what they were looking for. I don't expect this to happen with every post I do. However if we changed it to 'thank you' I feel like I would expect it to be done every time. It is kinda like the 'like' button on facebook. You only press it for significant posts. The 'thank you' button would be like the 'like' button to everyone who posted happy birthday to you on your birthday. It is kinda annoying to go and individually like everyones post, however you have to do it because you need to acknowledge that you somehow got their message. I just don't think it is the right word.

[Unbeliever]

I actually agree with you, and that is definitely true for repeat BB users and long-term veterans.

But I think perhaps we are forgetting what it was like to be "first timers".

They are already nervous about posting here, a lot of them have overwhelming anxiety, self-dislike internal dialogue or are just simply desperate for a response from anyone to know they aren't abnormal in some way.

And the number of posts of first timers that I've read that have not yet had a response, but have been sitting there for a while... and I know that I do not have the relevant experience with what they are specifically dealing with so any response I can think of seems inappropriate.

... and I can't press the "helpful" button when the post involves sometimes very difficult things, because it doesn't make sense to use.

And you just know from what they have wrote that those people are logging back into BB every 5 minutes since they first posted it to see of anyone has responded yet... and it's 6+ hours later.

Without any other kind of button for us to press... from their perspective, noone has even bothered to look at their heart that they have poured into the post... or worse perhaps nobody cares, or thinks they're weird (which we know isn't true, but there is no way for them to know that).

And all those negetive thoughts they already have are being exacerbated by it... each and every single time they check in and see nothing but their words staring back at them.

Perhaps it is just because that experience is too fresh still in my memory. But I think that it would be nice if there was something added to ease those initial difficult newbie first steps into the BB arena.

Just my opinion...

[Mathy]

I have to admit to using the existing button as “thank you for sharing”, because I feel everyone takes the time to be thoughtful and supportive, and acknowledgement is important. But I get that it’s a tricky discussion, and I haven’t been much help 🙂

As far as posts remaining unanswered and feeling like you don’t have the “expertise”, never dismiss the value of just answering the post with something like:

”Hi ...., a warm welcome to the BB forums. I see you are dealing with “x,y,z” and I’m sorry but I have no experience in these areas. I wanted to say Hi and see how you’re going ........” and if the posts seems like the poster is in considerable distress, suggesting the 24/7 number for them to call, and saying, posts are moderated sometimes replies take a while. I’m sure someone who understands your particular situation will be along to give you a hand.

Sometimes just engaging with someone helps to break the ice and lets them know that they are not alone, you can always just start a conversation. And it is true that someone who does have the expertise will turn up - well, in my short time of doing a lot of reading, I haven’t seen a failure yet, everyone does a great job.

[Unbeliever]

Ok, so I used to be an online researcher in a past life... I was actually a pretty good one.

I spent the last few hours looking at a bunch of 30 or so similar sites mainly based in the US and the UK to see what they did on their sites.

Most were pretty disappointing, either having no function at all or had copied the facebook "like" method.

I did however find 4 sites that did do something perhaps worth considering adopting for BB. I have put them in order of what I think looked best.

* One site offered 2 seperate options and was probably my favorite.

They had a "thanks for this from..." button. (With the names of the members or guests who pressed the "thanks for this from..." button in small in a seperate cell directly underneath the post).

The 2nd option was a "Hugs from"... (followed by the names of the members or guests who pressed the "hugs from... " button). * This was another seperated cell underneath anyone that selected the "thanks from..." option.

(Note that the cells do not appear at all until at least 1 person has pressed the relevent button (so that there never appears a "hugs from... (no-one) or "thanks for this from... (no-one)" message under the post. Which makes sense).

* Another site had a button which adds... "The Following User Says Thank You to... *(the members name who made the post) For This Useful Post.
*(followed by the name of the member who sent a thank you in the cell under the relevant post).

* A different site had a button that is simply a "Red Heart Symbol". On the post it appears as a Heart with a number next to it (depending on how many people hit the Heart Button). It was on the right side of the post and stands out quite well... although it is anonymous, no members names appear near it, just a number.

In principal is similar to the facebook "like" button, however being just a heart symbol means that it is vague enough to be interpreted in whatever way a person wants (eg. I feel you, or I send you my heart, or you touched my heart etc etc). The undefined nature of it might work well in application.

* The last site had the option to "upvote" posts (which appears as a symbol of an "arrow pointing up" with a number next to it underneath the post).

Interestingly the "Up Arrow" with the total number of "upvotes" in the entire thread was also next to the thread link title before actually entering the thread (next to the number of replies in the thread).

I have the links to each site, if you are interested in looking yourself.

[Mathy]

Nice work Unbeliever, I like option #1 , cheers M 🙂

[Unbeliever]

No problem. Happy to help.

I didn't post any links to the 4 sites because I was not sure if that would be against forum rules or cause other issues.

But I kept the links that shows each of the 4 examples being used for reference in case one of the decision makers was curious to have a look for themselves.

I'm not sure how I can send them to the relevant people though. A private message perhaps?

[geoff]

hi Chris, we never know who has clicked 'Mark this post as helpful', we hope it's the original poster but we never know, if we did know who the person was or wasn't then we might be disappointed, this will affect how and who we reply to in the future.
Someone maybe needing our help, but if they haven't clicked on 'thanks' or 'Mark this post as helpful' for my own comment, the chances of them offering any help maybe avoided.
In principle it would be nice to know who has clicked the box, but practically it could do completely the opposite.
Whatever the decision is, this can go much deeper than realised.
What about the situation where someone has posted a suicide comment and people have clicked the relevant box with all the replies, but haven't ticked anything on that original poster, how are they going to feel, I'm sure they will be saddened and feel left all alone, even though there are several replies, the number of replies doesn't seem to mean much if no one 'likes them'.
I'm going to stand on the fence here, but just be careful with what the decision is to make it be fair all around.
It's not an easy decision because it goes much deeper than what it looks on paper. Geoff.

[Unbeliever]

Fair point Geoff,

Perhaps, if people thought keeping it anonymous was the better way to go then having 2 button options that would make a message appear like... (for example)

"4 people say thank you"

"2 people send hugs"

Underneath the post?

Might work. Not sure.