Thanks for marking it as part of our Helpful Posts system!

[Monorail Man]

EDIT: Thanks for helping us with Helpful Posts! We've got the data that we need to improve this system. You'll see some implementation of this beyond just 'helpful' soon!

[dmtnt55]

Cool new feature!

[DisneyIPresume]

It looks like this feature doesnt seem to work on iPhone. I'm guessing it won't work on Droid either.

[flynnibus]

great idea MM - hopefully this gets the 'good' out of the old rep system.

curious - will these posts start going into some type of feed or index of helpful posts, or most helpful or something along those lines?

[Asylim]

A great new feature. I like it.

[MainStreetJake]

Not to be the downer here, but why isn't there the flip side to the coin, with a 'not helpful' button? I'm not trying to start something negative, just curious is all.

[sarcasm] Is it because the 'not helpful' button is already evident, just with everyone bashing someone's post they don't like? [/sarcasm]

[CaptainEO,ATIS]

At first I was like -

"Oh! I wanna try this out!"

Then I couldn't find the button.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Then I found that I had to put my cursor over the post to see it.

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!"

Sorry for this incredibly useless post.

[DisneyIPresume]

At first I was like -

"Oh! I wanna try this out!"

Then I couldn't find the button.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Then I found that I had to put my cursor over the post to see it.

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!"

Sorry for this incredibly useless post.

Thanks. This got me to thinking. What if I TAP on a certain post? And sure enough it came up!

Thank you for this helpful post!

[justjohn]

It looks like this feature doesnt seem to work on iPhone. I'm guessing it won't work on Droid either.

Just touch the text and it will bring the button up.

[lazyboy97O]

Interesting, as it seems more and more helpful posts are being edited to remove a link to the source.

[yoyoflamingo]

One issue that I see developing is that people are using the helpful post button more for things they agree with, as opposed to something that is indeed "helpful." Sometimes I think people need to realize this is not a like button from Facebook, and by merely hitting that button because they agree with a sarcastic comment or criticism is not in essence helping the community or the new system at all.

[flynnibus]

One issue that I see developing is that people are using the helpful post button more for things they agree with, as opposed to something that is indeed "helpful." Sometimes I think people need to realize this is not a like button from Facebook, and by merely hitting that button because they agree with a sarcastic comment or criticism is not in essence helping the community or the new system at all.

Yup Yup... definitely being used as a 'like' button in the threads I've seen.

[Mr Wiggins]

As with most things on internet discussion forums, what constitutes "Helpful" is subjective.

Case in point: in this thread, ratings of "Helpful" were attached to OP-bashing comments like...

I think you need to take a deep breath, and calm the hell down.

Damn, take a chill pill.

MWAHAHAHA!!! Enjoy your Tarzan's Treehouse and Nemo Subs!!!

I'm so tired of these threads.

...And images including:

And that's the way it's gonna be, folks. Human nature 101.

As Facebook's experience suggests, the "Like" option really doesn't work without a "Dislike" option. People will express their subjective feelings on issues -- it's the essence of internet discussion forums. If they don't have a "Dislike" option, they will vote "Like" on posts that support their dislike -- as is now happening with the MC "Helpful" system.

[penguinsoda]

Well, MiceChat, much like Disneyland itself, will never be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world!

But seriously.... Our wonderful Admin and code monkey Monorail Man is always looking into trying out new things and tweeking things for us her on MC. We're trying out this new feature, seeing how it works, and I'm pretty sure this is only a step in the continued evolution of the site. When time and technology permits (but mostly time) I'm sure Monorail Man will be unveiling even more cool stuff.

[lazyboy97O]

One issue that I see developing is that people are using the helpful post button more for things they agree with, as opposed to something that is indeed "helpful." Sometimes I think people need to realize this is not a like button from Facebook, and by merely hitting that button because they agree with a sarcastic comment or criticism is not in essence helping the community or the new system at all.

Yup Yup... definitely being used as a 'like' button in the threads I've seen.

As with most things on internet discussion forums, what constitutes "Helpful" is subjective.

Case in point: in this thread, ratings of "Helpful" were attached to OP-bashing comments like...

[...]

As Facebook's experience suggests, the "Like" option really doesn't work without a "Dislike" option. People will express their subjective feelings on issues -- it's the essence of internet discussion forums. If they don't have a "Dislike" option, they will vote "Like" on posts that support their dislike -- as is now happening with the MC "Helpful" system.

Since Monorail Man made no mention of this feature automatically affecting a user's standing, I see no real harm done in people using "Helpful" as a "Like" button. If you post a controversial and/or minority opinion you will see people saying the retorts are helpful, but you already see the disagreement. Since continued posting permission is not linked to being deemed "Helpful" it seems less likely for abuse, like being able to get a member Litterboxed merely for expressing an unpopular opinion. It seems like the kind of social networking features that I personally do not really "get," but seem to be quite popular with many others.