I just found out that we can unlike posts after liking them. There are a few things I want to ask. 1) Is being able to unlike posts a good idea? 2) Should there be some sort of penalty if someone keeps liking and unliking posts? 3) This last one is just a curiosity. I wonder if unliking a person's post decreases his/her number of likes or if it does nothing. Maybe someone could like and then unlike this post to see what happens.
I just carried out the experiment, refreshing the screen between each step and yes, unliking a post will step the number back down again. I just went into my credits screen to see what effect this had on my "account". Both "transactions", liking the post and then unliking the post, are seen as the same kind of transaction and both "cost" the same (lord, so many air quotes). So unliking a post can negatively effect your rep rating. There's a price.
There is no problem with unliking posts after liking them, someone may have accidentally clicked the like button. Considering how low the contrast is between the Like link and its siblings, and how tiny the font is, I can even believe the same person could need to do it frequently. Daniel, you might want to consider making those links a little easier to see.
Again, Cogito, though I do not wish to sway anyone's choice should they wish to do so - totally up to the member - should they make that choice, there is a hit against their rep credit they should be aware of.
I've accidentally hit 'like' in the past meaning to hit 'reply'. The fact they are in close proximity is a pain.
Sinner! It's a gift from The Flying Spaghetti Monster whenever you hit that button... It's like stealing a sacred meatball when you unlike a post.
It's not really much of a problem, is it? I've hit "like" when I meant "reply," too, but I let it go. Actually, many posts I reply to I like, anyway. I guess I just don't reply often to posts I don't like.
@minstrel That's it in a nut shell. Why does it always happen to me when I particularly disagree with what's been said? And I'm not moved to disagree very often. Sod's Law, I guess. That, and clumsy mouse movements.
We keep this up and we're going to get our knuckles rapped for derailing this thread. I'm almost tempted to like and then unlike your post, just for sheer badness.
To anyone who accidentally likes a post, don't be lame and unlike it. Accidentally liking a post isn't a bad thing. It's like accidentally giving money to charity when you have an infinite amount of money.
I too have accidentally 'Liked' when I wanted to 'Reply'. Not sure it is entirely fair to let it affect our reputations negatively, though (if I understood correctly?) @thirdwind: That's actually a very good point.
Thirdwind makes a good point, and makes it cogently, yet I'm bound to say this is no straightforward business! What if you accidentally like a post that contains much that is wretched and hideous (eg "Ok, Hitler got a few things wrong but in many respects...' or ' Avoid the use of semi-colons..')? Good citizens must not be seen buttressing such things! Unliking seems the only course in those circs.
Just a quick note on this. I still haven't worked out the rep system but I've just changed liking from costing 1 rep point to costing .01 rep point so it's not nearly as big of a deal. I still plan on revising the system once I can.
Actually, you don't have an infinite amount of money but an infinite amount of credit. Go to www.writingforums.org/credits and you'll see some people have got several hundred credits below zero
