KevC wrote:A lot of people don't like +1 and 'like' options because, after all, it's a discussion board. If everyone just ticked like all the time you wouldn't have any discussion. It's also dangerous to just go with whatever some social media site has deemed is the next big thing because in a few months or years it might not be any more. Just look at the things like ICQ numbers, yahoo messenger and AOL for example.
Sure, having a 'like' or +1 might discourage actual discussion in some cases, but it does prevent people making posts solely for the purpose of saying something like "Thanks" or "I agree" or "Good post" or what have you, which allows for the posts containing actual discussion to be more prominent.
This is relevant in phpBB's own Area51, where the RFCs forum (which I guess is now Ticket DIscussion forum) has/had people that sometimes post to just say "+1", i.e. that they'd like to see a feature added, but they don't really have anything specific to add to the discussion. This would trigger an email notification for anyone subscribed to the topic, and they'd have to login and check the forum only to see that the post didn't add any discussion.
Adding a +1/like would allow them to give their support without triggering any emails or getting in the way and breaking up the flow of actual discussion as someone is reading the topic.
It also gives the topic starter (and other relevant parties) a rough measurement of how many people appreciate X idea vs having to wade through a topic to see what posts are in favor of whatever the topic is about and which aren't.
I realize that the use case am referring to is more of a topic-centric +1 system, rather than a post-centric one, i.e. the 'thanks' is given for the topic rather than individual posts. But it can still apply, arguably even more effectively, to post-centric contexts.
My post isn't an argument for adding this into the core, but rather just an explanation of how such a feature can be beneficial in a context that actually promotes relevant discussion and deters one-off agreement posts.