Thanking posters on polite discussions

[ursaminortaur]

For some reason the ability to thank posters on Polite discussions was disabled ages ago.
Are there any plans to re-instate this ability ?
If not can you explain your reasons since I for one would really like to have that facility restored.

[redsturgeon]

Polite Discussions is very much a peripheral board on this site which is mainly focussed financial matters, with other boards of more general interest geared to answering Lemon Fools questions and places for friendly conversations about hobbies.

Boards such as Laughing Lemons and Polite Discussions are provided as a service but thanks were disabled on those boards so as not to give the impression that they were major areas of interest. Also the nature of debate on Polite Discussions can lead to polarisation of views that are not helped by the "thanks" system.

John

[CryptoPlankton]

For some reason the ability to thank posters on Polite discussions was disabled ages ago.
Are there any plans to re-instate this ability ?
If not can you explain your reasons since I for one would really like to have that facility restored.

I for one would really not!

This is predominantly a financial discussion site. It's fair enough to have a forum for "Polite" Discussions for people who want to discuss politics (we had to put up with LoST at the old place, after all), but I can't see how thanks/recs add anything to the debate. In fact, I suspect that when they have been available they have had a detrimental effect and have contributed to the frequent escalations in "hostilities" that have occurred in the past - perhaps either by people getting carried away if they perceive "support" or lashing out if they feel ganged up on? Whatever the reason, the evidence seems to be, judging by the relative calm these days, that it is less disruptive the way things are.

This isn't a polling station. Thanks/recs should be used for the appreciation of posters' contributions helping, informing or entertaining other users. On this site, at least, they really shouldn't be used for encouraging people to score political points off each other - there are plenty of other places for that...

Just IMHO of course

P.S. (Edit) Sorry, have just seen John has said more or less the same - only far more succinctly!

[redsturgeon]

P.S. (Edit) Sorry, have just seen John has said more or less the same - only far more succinctly!

You don't manage over 2700 posts by being long winded.

John

[beeswax]

I'm not bothered about recs irrespective of what board it is...But I disagree completely that IF you are going to have recs, then you should not differentiate between ANY board or forum. All or none! There are some very good topics on the polite forum excellent research done and yet no way of recommending that? Other than saying thanks on the forum when he does post?

Moderator Message:
RS: Text removed referring to specific topic that needs to stay on the Polite Discussions board. But if you wish to thank people for their hard work and research then posting your thanks on the thread or sending a PM would surely show your appreciation much more than clicking a button!

The other point is that posters and readers may consider whether to contribute financially or not to this site and if people are going to say it's primarily a financial site and a couple are added at the 'fringe' then how can you expect a poster who predominantly posts on the Polite Discussions board? to contribute anything when there is always a chance of it being shut down without notice anyway?...You could say if its financial forum first and foremost which is obviously dedicated to 'making' more money than most here need, is my guess, then let them EACH poster pay something for the running costs...That does seem fair to me...

I think it's a bit ridiculous to equate 'laughing lemon's aka Jokers Corner on TMF with Polite Discussions as the former are only copying stuff from other sources and therefore not original in any way and therefore you would be rec'ing someone else's work.

That's my take on it anyway...

[csearle]

Hi beeswax,

I'm not bothered about recs irrespective of what board it is...But I disagree completely that IF you are going to have recs, then you should not differentiate between ANY board or forum. All or none! There are some very good topics on the polite forum like the ones Avconway contributes to on the Arab/Israeli situation which was very illuminating and excellent research done by him and yet no way of recommending that? Other than saying thanks on the forum when he does post?

I think that the recs system is quite useful for highlighting posts that have had much effort put into them and for that reason I was glad when our stooz implemented it here. I was also in favour of it being removed from Polite Discussions. My reason was that while it should mainly be used for highlighting excellent posts (or simply saying thank you) it was, in practice, used for lending support to posts of those with rather entrenched positions, those of your good self for example, which seemed to me to heighten tension rather than foster polite discussion.

As I understand it the Laughing Lemons recs (currently topical amongst the moderators) was removed so that the Best Of lists were not contaminated by mere jokes.

The other point is that posters and readers may consider whether to contribute financially or not to this site and if people are going to say it's primarily a financial site and a couple are added at the 'fringe' then how can you expect a poster who predominantly posts on the Polite Discussions board? to contribute anything when there is always a chance of it being shut down without notice anyway?...You could say if its financial forum first and foremost which is obviously dedicated to 'making' more money than most here need, is my guess, then let them EACH poster pay something for the running costs...That does seem fair to me...

Disappointingly (for me anyway) relatively few users of this site have found it within themselves to contribute to its upkeep. Doubtless this is for a variety of reasons but I suspect that the threat of a forum's closure is not a major consideration.

Regards,
Chris

[Lootman]

There are some very good topics on the polite forum like the ones Avconway contributes to on the Arab/Israeli situation which was very illuminating and excellent research done by him and yet no way of recommending that?

The problem is that if "thanks" were allowed on the polite forum then it would mostly just signify people taking sides and registering their agreement with one party and their disagreement with the other. And that is because political debates don't have much to do with facts and proof, but rather are about values and preferences. There is no real "right" and "wrong" in any political discussion in the way there can be with discussions about finance, science, the law and so on. Political debates here and elsewhere are more like a football match, with the participants cheering on their side.

Moderator Message:
RS: You are right, we do not need to have that debate here. So let's not. Text removed that refers to it.

Finally there is the worry that if thanks were allowed, then one Lemon would no doubt point to the fact that he has more thanks than the other Lemon as "proof" that he is right and the other guy is wrong. I don't think that's healthy.