Upvotes with Feedback

Serah

Since I have seen some behaviours I am not used to (people asking for upvote this and that) and the topic by @HarmlessDave which was about asking an improvement in that feature, I like to ask here directly:

How/Does upvotes of a thread affect anything? Especially with suggestions and feedbacks I would like to know, since the usage of that feature differ from forums to forums.

I personally always disable forums feature like upvotes and tags, which hardly ever get used the way the admin intended for unless you have a homogeneous community (aka all members follow the rules strictly as in "have each topic at least marked with a tag" and so on).

Instead of "upvotes", which implicates that there are either "downvotes" or "lack of legibility due lack of upvotes", I usually use polls in forums.

Therefore I am curious how it works here - if e.g. a suggestion for licensing or whatever idea is shared by a registered user needs upvotes to be acknowledged and otherwise being ignored and so on. How is the community here using it, and how it is used right as the forums admins intended?

So far, when I noticed there is that feature, I am giving upvotes to posts I appreciate. Though I feel guilty if it is not meant to be used like that.

Rahul Balaggan

So to start off you can upvote posts but you can not downvote posts. That pretty much boils down to if you agree with something someone is saying you can second it. If you disagree don’t just downvote and walk away, make your case on why you disagree have a discussion about it, maybe you will changes some minds maybe your mind will be changed...

As for upvotes specifically retaining to the licensing suggestion sub-forum, it is just to state that there is one more user who would like to express their interest for “X” series to be licensed.

The people running this site do look at several variables when considering what to license, and it has been noted that 1 variable is the licensing sub-forum. Now does that mean if a title gets hundreds upon hundreds of upvotes its a sure thing...no, not at all the sub-forum is just one thing to look at when deciding to license something.

In my own personal opinion the licensing sub-forum is something you look at when you are already 95% sure you want a title, and you just look there to see if people on the site are already aware of it.

Serah

That make it sound like the upvotes here have really no big meaning then?

I am more used to the fact that a hot discussed topic has a greater impact than a post/topic with upvotes. However, as stated: while I can see there are no downvotes here, it still makes it feel weird that some people love having their topic upvoted - so I had to ask if it means anything (more than I knew).

I cannot say much about licensing suggestion, since I have not a full understanding how people get to those new suggestions. If a title is not available in the language I am able to use, I cannot tell if a title is worth to be licensed or not.

I am more curious about the perception of general feedback stuff, including my shared ideas. By the topics I have browsed so far I cannot really tell if all are "noted" or already "discarded" for unmentioned reasons. And of course I am questioning myself seeing so little response of the community towards my feedback in regards of the forums - implying a change of structures might be undesired be the majority.

Rahul Balaggan

@serah said in Upvotes with Feedback:

That make it sound like the upvotes here have really no big meaning then?

The upvote really is just someone saying I agree with you without typing “I agree”, likewise it can also express that you like what a users is saying. Really not too deep.

I am more used to the fact that a hot discussed topic has a greater impact than a post/topic with upvotes. However, as stated: while I can see there are no downvotes here, it still makes it feel weird that some people love having their topic upvoted - so I had to ask if it means anything (more than I knew).

That is correct and incorrect at the same time, the best example is the current Bookworm Discussion Thread. The initial post may not have a super amount of upvotes, but the topic is highly discussed and throughout the topic users are throwing upvotes around at things they agree with and still discussing further.

I am more curious about the perception of general feedback stuff, including my shared ideas. By the topics I have browsed so far I cannot really tell if all are "noted" or already "discarded" for unmentioned reasons. And of course I am questioning myself seeing so little response of the community towards my feedback in regards of the forums - implying a change of structures might be undesired be the majority.

The only way something is discarded is if it is deleted, everything else is noted,

Additionally this is my own personal preference based on what i have seen for 3+ years on this site, and I may sound harsh so I apologize in advance, for the entire history of this particular forum (J-Novel Club Forum) no one has taken too kindly to giant walls of text when people are posting

Raitoiro

@serah said in Upvotes with Feedback:

I cannot say much about licensing suggestion, since I have not a full understanding how people get to those new suggestions. If a title is not available in the language I am able to use, I cannot tell if a title is worth to be licensed or not.

Usually people suggest a license because there's a fan translation of the series itself or the wn it come from, or because that series as a manga/anime adaptation.
Sometimes it's because it's part of the same universe as an already license title, because it's from an author people are familiar with or just because the cover and blurb look interesting.
And once upon a time it's because some ~~madman~~ hero read it with machine translation and thought it was cool.

Jon Mitchell

another feature of upvotes: you get a notification when someone upvotes a comment of yours (you also get a notification if someone replies) if I post something and I see no notifications in a long time - it is evidence (to me) that a discussion point is settled (or at least that we agreed to disagree)

sometimes folks have strong opinions on a subject (i.e. localization and honorifics) and having an upvote on a comment assures me that 'oh, it isn't just me then' or that I expressed my opinion in a way that was understood (and agreed with)

Serah

@jon-mitchell said in Upvotes with Feedback:

another feature of upvotes: you get a notification when someone upvotes a comment of yours (you also get a notification if someone replies) if I post something and I see no notifications in a long time - it is evidence (to me) that a discussion point is settled (or at least that we agreed to disagree)

sometimes folks have strong opinions on a subject (i.e. localization and honorifics) and having an upvote on a comment assures me that 'oh, it isn't just me then' or that I expressed my opinion in a way that was understood (and agreed with)

Would it not be better to get an actual comment?

While I see upvotes are easy, I still see all the downsides of it.

Despite that, I am not really minding the feature at all.

On mobile you even hardly see if a topic aka first post of a topic is upvoted much or less.

myskaros

@serah said in Upvotes with Feedback:

Would it not be better to get an actual comment?

I mean... sometimes people don't have a comment to add. If the difference is going to be "upvote" versus "no interaction period," then I'd think having the upvote is better than not.

HarmlessDave

@serah said in Upvotes with Feedback:

Would it not be better to get an actual comment?

It's easier to read a discussion if it isn't cluttered with people saying just "me too" or "I agree."

If someone else has said what I was going to say myself, I don't need to repeat the point, I can just +1 them to show that they are not alone.

If someone has made their point even if I don't agree with it, I can +1 them to say "well said" or "good point."

If someone has posted a set of corrections in a pre-pub thread I can +1 them to say "thanks for your work."

It's true that adding a response would give a little more information, but often it would just slow down the discussion. With 20 +1 instead of 20 "me too," a thread on a light novel volume is much easier to read through.

Serah

At the same time those kind of "facebook"-likes take away incentives to keep a good discussion running - in my humble opinion at least. An upvote also does not guarantee you are on the some page. But mainly I am really disliking those for the said reasons - probably a historical D4 thing.

Probably I am just too old for that and kinda used to "hot topic" markers instead of upvotes to tell if a topic is much alive or not.

I am grateful for the clarification though - so I know how they are used in these forums.

myskaros

@serah said in Upvotes with Feedback:

take away incentives to keep a good discussion running

The presence or absence of upvoting will not do anything to keep a good discussion running, it just allows people who might not otherwise interact at all to interact a little.

Serah

Clearly a cultural disagreement here.

Jon Mitchell

@serah
I wouldn't worry too much about it - every community has its own customs - JNC has some quirks, and I think it's charming

Serah

@jon-mitchell I agree on that. That is one of the reasons I am interested to understand it the way it is meant to be understood.

It would be weird to think some stuff with unclear purpose is based on that it was the forums default settings when it was installed.

flarecde

If all I'm going to post is I agree with X, that's not going to really contribute anything to the discussion. At the same time, it is nice to acknowledge a particularly well thought out post, or an opinion or comment I particularly agree with. I think the feature functions fine for that purpose, and doesn't particularly need server some grander scheme or mechanism. Not every forum needs to be gamified.

Paul Nebeling

Generally, when I hit the upvote button, I usually mean that either I agree with your post and have nothing further to add, or I find your post amusing or humorous in some way. On those rare occasions that I comment/reply and upvote, that indicates that my feelings about it are a bit stronger. After all, either one will notify the original poster. Another thing to remember is that upvotes increase your reputation.

Serah

@Rahul-Balaggan I was thinking more of this one... https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/2772/error-report-section-for-j-novel-club-series

This topic was not supposed to be as feedback but rather me wondering how you use upvotes...

Rahul Balaggan

@serah noted, I have moved them, and will reply shorty.

Serah

@rahul-balaggan thank you.