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?

[Just Sara]

I'm loving this discussion. It's important to be heard and be able to put forward our thoughts in safety without judgement.

I've gone up this thread and pressed the red button to posts I haven't previously, and 4 of those hadn't been pressed at all. Is this about me, or those people?

Is your post one that others didn't find 'helpful'? And, is it important to you? Is what I did ubiquitous (habit of a universal or generic response) or intent on helping 'everyone' feel heard and acknowledged?

For the record, to me it's important I acknowledge 'people' as well as their posts. We only have the helpful button which is why I asked about this in the first place.

Personally I, like Nat, would like to see my comments acknowledged as helpful or just for the sake of not feeling ignored. Steph touched on this also, but from a different perspective. Mia's engaged which I applaud too; the more comments the easier a baseline can be identified.

Geoff gives relevant options and comments too, along with Dory (and her special humour we've all come to love) and Mathy who obviously has an interest in how things are run for the best outcome. And, Unbeliever has gone a step further by contributing his research findings.

* Not all members have engaged here btw.

There seems to be 2 topics within our comments. One is about whether to press the red button or not, and the other is what to call it. (Or how many to have. thanks UB)

If your name isn't in my post, are you hurt or disappointed?

Chris; #1 and #2 both make perfect sense. After reading UB's posts, I'm now considering the option of having more than one. What say you?

Sez

[startingnew]

i try to ackowledge everyone i speak to and comments that i read some of them i might miss unintentionally but i also would like to see the posts that have been extra helpful tkae the credit for that, but in the same line i dont want others to feel unappreciated becasue someone wrote a better response.

[Just Sara]

Dear SN;

How did you feel when I didn't mention your name in my post? It actually wasn't intentional. 😞 Sorry...

Sez

[startingnew]

No need to apologise Sez xoxo

[Unbeliever]

Sez, I still wont provide the link (just in case). But if you are interested in a look at the 1st example, google "psychcentral".

Go to the site that is the first result. Underneath the heading is "menu" and in the dropdown select "Forum and Support Groups".

From here there are a heap of forum options (I chose depression for sake of consistancy).

Then choose any forum posts from here (preferably one that has a lot of responses) and you can lots of examples of what I was talking about. Look directly underneath peoples posts at the cells below them.

To be honest, liked how they did it better than all the other sites I saw... but I do think that the way it appears could be done better than how it is on this site.

*Note - Please delete this if I have committed any kind of breach. Thank you

[Unbeliever]

(This will be the last time I comment on this I promise. I am fully aware that I'm overly opininated and that can be irritating... plus I'm a newbie).

Over the last few days I have been thinking about this (surprise surprise), going through threads and re-reading peoples opinions here on this one.

Firstly, I agree with Sez, who I'm guessing is the one who proposed the potential change in the first place. I think her reasons for proposing a change to this button are valid and good ones.

I also agree with geoff. I do think keeping the "button press" anonymous is probably the safer option. That a number is better than adding member names... and it still serves the purpose of acknowledging the poster.

I also agree with Starwolf. I think just a "thank you" is too curt and impersonal and his/her suggestion of "thanks you for sharing" is a far better response than anything else I have seen on any of the other sites.

Startingnew was the first to propose maybe having 2 buttons and I believe that this is the best way to go. One button as a "Thanks for Sharing" acknowledgement (which potentially can serve 2 purposes), and one button simply for a show of empathy and support to a post not giving advice but revealing a difficult personal story.

As to the potential "empathy" button I have tried to come up with something better than "sends hugs", I worry that some male members might feel weird about pressing such a button (even if it is anonymous). But I've come up short. Things like "sends love" has the same problem. "Sends Empathy" or "Sends Acknowledgement" is too robotic. "Can relate" is too specific to be useful. "I hear you" just doesn't quite feel right. So I'm a little stuck on this one.

"Sends hugs" despite some drawbacks is still personal enough, warm, with little room for misinterpretation, definitely without a robotic or automated feel and serves a specific purpose... to allow people to feel they are being heard (Although, I'm still hoping that someone smarter than me can think of something slightly better).

So, in conclusion. As things currently stand with everyones suggestions so far, I believe that 2 buttons that when pressed underneath the post show...

3 people say "Thanks for sharing".

2 people send hugs.

Is in my opinion a really useful improvement to the site and would be noticably better than any similar sites that I have seen (I actually think you will find other sites copying BB in the future).

Whatever is decided, I'm sure it will be for the best.

[blondguy]

Hi Unbeliever

(excuse me for hijacking your thread topic Chris)

Your posts/input are actually very cool and just as valued as anyone elses's too....including mine. You take the time and care to post in a heartfelt way and thats a bonus to the forums....Nice1!

My Best....Paul

PS....great post by the way 🙂

[CMF]

I like the idea of changing it and I like Starwolf's suggestion. Sometimes I want to acknowledge i have read a post but not because i found it helpful or want to thank them but because i want to the member to know it has been read , especially if i don't post. Sometimes i feel sad, triggered, don't have time or have not much to say and wont post, this is why i don't think saying thank you or that it was helpful is appropriate. I'm all for the change but not sure about the wording.

Can there be more than one option? I hate to say this, but a bit like FB, i don't like comparing this to social media at all, and i apologise but options could allow us to show different reactions to a thread.

cmf

[Chris_B]

Hi everyone, thanks for all your thoughts.

At the moment, we are functionally limited - we only have one button, so I'd suggest that for the remainder of this thread we try to come to a consensus on what the existing button should be called.

[Guest_5218]

How about - Your post is acknowledged