Does the brohoof feature result in higher quality posts?

[Wingnut 7,003]

You may tell me this is a no-brainer, but I'll throw it out there anyway. Do you think the ability to send and receive brohoofs are a successful incentive for quality posts? Would content be less entertaining, less informative, or less thought-provoking without it?

 

The last online forum I was a major participant in was Powerpuff Girls World. They had no like or thumbs up feature. And brohoofs were non-existent then. If you wanted to let somebody know you like what they said or acknowledge that you read it, you had to post a comment of your own. There was no character limit. But aside from a section similar to forum games here, mods would discipline members for continuous spammy entries.

 

But my basic attitude here is no different from there. I like to state my points and give solid reasons to back them up. Attack the idea, not the person presenting it. I don't talk down to anybody. And what I relish more than anything is the opportunity to help fellow fans see something from a new point of view that they never considered before.

 

When I first joined, I was somewhat preoccupied with getting brohoofs because they seemed to be an important status symbol like post count badges. Now I see neither matter much in the big scheme of things. I spent enough time trying to get lots of brohoofs and replies that I was quickly reminded of one of the unwritten rules of online forum life: The more feedback you hope to get, the less feedback you will get.

 

So now I take a pragmatic approach. I speak my mind and let the chips fall where they may. And to answer the original question, for me, I don't think brohoofs or lack there of has had a noticeable effect in the way I approach the forum. But I'm in favor of keeping the brohoof feature. It's still a very handy way to let others know that you like or have read whatever they posted.

 

What does everybody else think?

 

EDIT: If this belongs elsewhere, feel free to move it.  There's another discussion pertaining to forum brohoofs in this section.  But this topic has a different spin to it so I'm starting a new one instead of reviving the old one. 

Edited March 3, 2013 by Wingnut

[Nah 3,182]

Sometimes no, I know quite a few people here and on other forums that get next to no likes or Brohoofs and have quality posts, yet attention whores usually get more brohoofs.

 

Most the time, people with higher brohoof ratios have quality posts, give a fuck about spelling and grammar, and give people the royal TL;DR treatment a lot of times, so it can affect post quality.

[Standard User 2,127]

I think brohoofs are a nice feature for when you don't have anything to contribute to the conversation or don't have time to make a well thought-out post, but want to show someone that you like/agree with their post. I also think it is a good way to encourage people to make eloquent and useful posts as opposed to just "Yeah, I agree." For me, brohooves turn it into "Yeah, I agree, and here is why." 

 

I also use brohooves to investigate people. Why did one user brohoof this comment, but not this one? I like dissecting people like that.

[Skygunner 352]

the "minimum character requirement"  is probably much more influential in slapping ponies in line to make more quality posts (that line alone is 100 characters).

 

 

 

Now, if that limit wasn't in place I'd of been able to just post

 

"probably not"

 

and been on my way.  Instead I have to actually type my idea out.   The thing about brohooves is there is not way to lose them.   The brohoof would only "really" mean something if there was also a threat of losing them.   So yes, the ability to go into negative brohoofs.

 

 

But that system would only work if the user base was sold on the idea that having a positive brohoof count was better than a negative one.  You'll always have trolls who just farm negative ones because....well...they are losers and find it fun.

[Wubsie 1,123]

While brohoofs to encourage me a bit I don't really care about the system, but it is nice to notice that someone has read, acknowledged , and even liked the post you took time to make.

TBH it's sad when people TRY to get brohoofs like it's a job, I can probably talk more about this, but I don't really feel like it. :/

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

I have a ton of brohoofs and most of my posts are puns/sarcasm.So the answer you're looking for is probably no.

 

Probably, don't ask me, I don't know anything about receiving brohoofs, at all. Nope.

[Retro*Derpy 3,196]

It depends on the topic at hand and where it is located (Cloudsdale Colosseum, Everfree Forest) 

If it is in general discussion and the post is proved with a good open-mined opinion, it can get bro-hoofs. Though, there are times when interpreting the question in a different manner than others gets you bro-hoofs as well. Most of the time it is because someone put something funny in the post, or just "shut down" another member.

[Zoop 8,384]

Not at all.

 

A lot of posts that end up with tons of brohoofs that I've seen tend to be short, silly, and/or generally lacking in content. That's not to say that they're bad posts per se - they're often amusing in their own way, but not what I would consider a stand-out example of excellent posting.

 

Not only that, but some people pay more attention to who it was that posted something than what it was that was posted. It's no secret, for example, that staff members typically get ridiculous amounts of brohoofs for fairly simple things. I've joked in private, for example, that posting announcements is a great way of farming easy brohoofs.

 

Honestly, I think the system could use a bit of tweaking in some way or another. I recently had a somewhat irritating debacle in which I put a decent bit of effort into making a nice blog post, only to have the comments section get overran with discussion about the biased nature of people that give brohoofs and similar things.

[NavelColt 22,882]

Scoots and the other staff are interested in tweaking things to be sure. The silly green brohoof counter in profiles is useless and only exists for non-needed bragging rights, and that'll most likely get removed. Only people who get the brohoofs will be able to see who brohoofed them instead of absolutely anyone being capable of seeing the name list, which should do a lot to kill off the hype effect, etc.

 

Brohoofs/likes are not a bad feature, and I do believe they have a good impact. There's just things that probably need to be trimmed a bit.

[Betez 1,734]

I feel like it can, but it doesn't always. I feel like a lot of brohooves happen in forum lounge, and I feel like Moderators get tons of brohooves, just for the fact that they are Moderators. While it can show that you make quality posts, I feel like it can prove false. A person can have a ton of brohooves, but still make shit posts.

[Standard User 2,127]

Not at all.

 

 

A lot of posts that end up with tons of brohoofs that I've seen tend to be short, silly, and/or generally lacking in content. That's not to say that they're bad posts per se - they're often amusing in their own way, but not what I would consider a stand-out example of excellent posting.

 

Not only that, but some people pay more attention to who it was that posted something than what it was that was posted. It's no secret, for example, that staff members typically get ridiculous amounts of brohoofs for fairly simple things. I've joked in private, for example, that posting announcements is a great way of farming easy brohoofs.

 

Honestly, I think the system could use a bit of tweaking in some way or another. I recently had a somewhat irritating debacle in which I put a decent bit of effort into making a nice blog post, only to have the comments section get overran with discussion about the biased nature of people that give brohoofs and similar things.

>talks about short, humorous posts receiving brohoofs

>writes long(er), serious post about brohoofing and jokes about receiving brohoofs

 

Desire to brohoof your comment: immense. I see what you did there, you witty person, you.

[Wingnut 7,003]

I've noticed that certain activities here do get a lot of attention, brohoofs, and feedback.  Posting lots of cute pony pictures and videos is one way.  Roleplay is another.  And I know my personal brohoof rate has increased over time as more people get to know me.  It's not because I'm trying harder or anything. 

 

I'll mention the two most brohoofed items I have. 

 

The top one is my questionnaire about changing times, technology, and the like.  I was hoping for about 20 replies to that.  It went over 100!  And it's still the only item I have that has earned a "popular" star.

 

My second most brohoofed post was about Sleepless in Ponyville.  It was nothing spectacular.  Most people were talking about how Scootaloo was afraid of monsters or whatever.  I pointed out that the real fear underlying everything else was the possibility Rainbow Dash would reject her.  This is exactly the kind of helpful insight I try to lend to conversations and that alone was worth 8 or 9 brohoofs. 

[Fluttermoon 192]

No, I don't think it does. I wrote a really short little responds to a thread that recieved a couple brohoofs. I was honestly surprised by it, especially since it wasn't this long well thought out/quality post. However, people seemed to like it. There is a similar feature on another forum that I frequent where you can like people's posts (doesn't have the popular star-like feature though). I've seen it there too - the post doesn't have to have any high quality content to it to get attention.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

I think that the answer to this question depends on what people's views are of the philosophy of brohoofing. My philosophy is that because everyone can see what everyone else brohoofs, then the posts you brohoof are an indication to everyone else (not just the member who made the post) of the way you think and which opinions you agree with.

 

Therefore, since I only can brohoof an entire post (i.e., I can't pick out certain parts to like unless I quote and comment on them), I usually only brohoof a post if I agree with everything that is said in the post, or the post makes such a good point that I can let a little disagreement slide. Consequently, I don't brohoof posts very often, in part because I don't want to send the wrong message to other forum members about my opinions or what I agree with.

 

As part of my brohoof philosophy, I basically only look at brohoofs on a post-by-post basis. Obviously some posts which may not necessarily be "high quality" get a lot of brohoofs, but for me anyway, it's usually pretty easy to spot these and know not to put much stock in how many brohoofs they got. I never look up how many total brohoofs any member has gotten. I know that that total number can be skewed by posting in "brohoof-rich" areas of the forum or by, for example, happening to be the first one to post about recent show updates and such, so I don't put any stock in it. 

 

Overall, I think there are positives to being able to see who specifically brohoofed a post if I want to. 90% of the time I don't really care who brohoofed a specific post, and it's easy enough to ignore in those cases. But the other 10% of the time, I like seeing if any like-minded forum members brohoofed the same posts I did. To me, it helps in those cases to see who might agree with my opinions or outlook without having to look through their posts or make a possibly superfluous post myself.

 

Funnily enough, since I don't usually make posts that fish for brohoofs, I tend not to get too many of them, so on the infrequent occasion that I do get a reply or brohoof, it is actually exciting to me. I've even developed a bit of a psychological reaction where I get a little excited when I see a number in parentheses, since that is what a notification looks like on the MLP Forums tab on my browser.

 

In short, the brohoof system is not perfect, perhaps in part because of the differing ways that forum members use it and how seriously they take it, but I've learned to put it to selective good use for my purposes while not paying particular attention to it the rest of the time.

[Abstract 832]

It seems like every forum I've ever been on has a huge debacle erupt over likes/brohoofs/upvoting, etc. Glad to see we've managed to keep it to a civil discussion.

 

For the most part, I believe brohoofs are a great way to show support and agreement for a users' post, without the needless and spammy "I Agree's" and "+1" posts. In a sense, they do encourage quality posting. Generally, brohoofs aren't just handed out to every passerby, so getting one on your posts is like the gold star sticker you got on your homework in elementary school; It's a "keep up the good work" sort of achievement. To this end, it does its job pretty well I would say.

 

Of course, there are always going to be those who hoard them and do nothing but fish for them; this cannot be helped, and in my opinion, are pretty far and few in-between. The majority of MLP Forums' population are intelligent and well-meaning people who know the value and responsibility of brohoofs, and the few outliers who don't follow the rules shouldn't be allowed to spoil the fun for everybody.

[Betez 1,734]

Scoots and the other staff are interested in tweaking things to be sure. The silly green brohoof counter in profiles is useless and only exists for non-needed bragging rights, and that'll most likely get removed. Only people who get the brohoofs will be able to see who brohoofed them instead of absolutely anyone being capable of seeing the name list, which should do a lot to kill off the hype effect, etc.

 

Brohoofs/likes are not a bad feature, and I do believe they have a good impact. There's just things that probably need to be trimmed a bit.

I'd still prefer I have it somewhere, maybe in the user's stat section, but I don't want to get rid of it completely. Personally, I like seeing who brohooved what. While I do see how it can influence people to brohoof things, just because others have, I still think it would be a bit of a hassle not being able to see who's brohooved what at all.

[NavelColt 22,882]

I'd still prefer I have it somewhere, maybe in the user's stat section, but I don't want to get rid of it completely. Personally, I like seeing who brohooved what. While I do see how it can influence people to brohoof things, just because others have, I still think it would be a bit of a hassle not being able to see who's brohooved what at all.

 

It is accessible in stats. Always has been. That's why the green bar is unneeded.

 

Pros and cons to every decision :3

[Mutemutt 773]

 

I think that the answer to this question depends on what people's views are of the philosophy of brohoofing. My philosophy is that because everyone can see what everyone else brohoofs, then the posts you brohoof are an indication to everyone else (not just the member who made the post) of the way you think and which opinions you agree with.   Therefore, since I only can brohoof an entire post (i.e., I can't pick out certain parts to like unless I quote and comment on them), I usually only brohoof a post if I agree with everything that is said in the post, or the post makes such a good point that I can let a little disagreement slide. Consequently, I don't brohoof posts very often, in part because I don't want to send the wrong message to other forum members about my opinions or what I agree with.

...

 

My thoughts exactly. 

 

Overall, I think it does have a small impact on making quality posts. It serves as a sort of reward system, encouraging people to make good (or otherwise "likeable") posts but it's not so heavy handed as to distort what the user would originally say. What I mean to say is that posters will post what they actually want to say, at least for discussion threads, and the brohoofs are just incentive (as small as it might be) to make their posts better if they (the brohoofs) even play a role in their (poster's) post at all.

 

It's not perfect and I can't think of a good way to make it more effective but I don't think it's bad either.

[Wingnut 7,003]

 

It is accessible in stats. Always has been. That's why the green bar is unneeded. Pros and cons to every decision :3

 

Currently, only brohoofs given appear on the stats page.  I'm sure putting brohoofs received there would be easy enough. 

[NavelColt 22,882]

Currently, only brohoofs given appear on the stats page.  I'm sure putting brohoofs received there would be easy enough. 

 

I would assume not, indeed.

[Nohbdy 4,108]

No, they most certainly do not. I'm actually relieved that the staff are taking the brohoof counter's removal into consideration. It's painfully easy to rack up a huge brohoof count without consistently making good posts. A trip to the Forum Lounge is enough to see that. Just the other week, I made a few posts in the Cute Pony Pictures thread--and received around twenty brohoofs within hours. It's perfectly fine that users do this, but getting brohoofs for posting pictures is hardly an indicator of one's posting abilities. Good posters with little popularity may well have fewer brohoofs than popular users who get free brohoofs everywhere they go. While much-brohoofed users may be genuinely great posters compared to those with fewer brohoofs, it's a mistake to judge the quality of users' posts by brohoof statistics.

 

That said, brohoofs themselves are a wonderful thing. They give encouragement to users and allow others to demonstrate their acknowledgement or support, and they allow readers to notice a helpful, witty, or thoughtful post. I've also personally used it to show that I read and understood someone's post if they left me a quote or comment. I give brohoofs pretty liberally (even to posts I disagree with, if they're well thought-out), but I do so knowing that I'm able to encourage those who deserve it.

 

I think many would agree that getting brohoofs feels great. I love knowing that somebody has read and appreciated my post. However, I think trying to make posts for the sake of getting brohoofs (though I confess to having done that in certain Cloudsdale Colosseum threads) is pretty lame. I try to make my posts helpful and enjoyable to read, and to possibly add a new perspective to a discussion. Brohoofs are a nice bonus, and it feels good to know that I've earned my brohoof.

 

So, while the brohoof system is certainly flawed, I believe it's ultimately a great way to communicate with fellow users.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Twilicorn

[Mutemutt 773]

 

No, they most certainly do not. I'm actually relieved that the staff are taking the brohoof counter's removal into consideration. It's painfully easy to rack up a huge brohoof count without consistently making good posts. A trip to the Forum Lounge is enough to see that. Just the other week, I made a few posts in the Cute Pony Pictures thread--and received around twenty brohoofs within hours. It's perfectly fine that users do this, but getting brohoofs for posting pictures is hardly an indicator of one's posting abilities. Good posters with little popularity may well have fewer brohoofs than popular users who get free brohoofs everywhere they go. While much-brohoofed users may be genuinely great posters compared to those with fewer brohoofs, it's a mistake to judge the quality of users' posts by brohoof statistics.  

 

 Ok, I can see how removing the counter can stop users from making judgements on the quality of a user's posts based on the number of brohoofs received but what I would like to know is does the counter have a negative effect on the quality of the posts. Does one post getting tons of brohoofs just for being the post of a popular user cause the posts of less popular users to go unnoticed and brohoofless even when they deserve it? 

I just don't see it.

[Steve 290]

no, i dont care

 

i dont post for brohoofs, i post to contribute to the conversation, i make quality posts because of the 100 character limit, i dont mind it, otherwise id be making 1 or 2 word replies

 

i brohoof posts because i like/agree with the post

[Batbrony 16,055]

It kinda depends on the area of the forum that you're replying (for instance, if you're in Forum Lounge, where posts don't count, and just posting in some Forum Game, or in Roleplay World, brohoofs might not be that important to you), but I'd say in most areas of the forum that the brohoof system does indeed serve as one of the incentives for higher quality posts for members, especially new members attempting to establish a good reputation.  I remember that when I first joined, high quality posts were always at the forefront of my mind since I'd be more likely to get brohoofs, and building a high brohoofs-count is still one of the more visible ways to reflect a good, well established reputation on the forums.

 

Of course there are plenty of other incentives as well for posting higher quality posts.  Anypony who reads your posts will see that you have something worthwhile to say, and thus be more inclined to pay attention to it, as well as maybe even friend you down the road.  The 100 character minimum in most threads is also another good incentive for high quality posts, and has certainly proven effective at assuring them, probably even far more than the brohoof system ever did, since being implemented.  But still, as I said, brohoofs are still, for many members, a big incentive for high quality posts for sure, and I think that the brohoof system has definitely encouraged quite effectively such positive behavior from members.

 

EDIT: Zoop did make a good point on the first page about how, sometimes, posts lacking content, or even posted by certain members such as section mods, end up getting the most brohoofs, and while I don't begrudge this fact, it's certainly an accurate statement to be sure.  Heck, to date, my most popular post was a Princess Trollestia joke that I made in the middle of an episode this season that took about two seconds to post!     I don't know myself how this could possibly be changed (although let me reiterate again that I myself don't begrudge anypony, mod or otherwise, who get a ridiculous amount of brohoofs from site announcements or posts lacking in content), but it's interesting that the mod team is looking into a way to reform this at all.  I guess the only thing I can think of would be if, say, for site announcements, the mods added a "recognition" button next to the brohoof button for members to press, since I think that in most instances with site announcements getting brohoofed, it's really just the members' way of saying that we recognize the change that's being announced and approve.  Still, as I said, it's not that big of a deal guys, so don't worry that some posts get more brohoofs than others even though they may be lacking in content.  It's all good guys, it's all good. 

Edited March 5, 2013 by Batbrony

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

When I used to have the highest number of brohoofs back in the day, hells yeah it meant quality because I AM quality.

 

Now that I don't have the highest number anymore, nah brohoofs don't mean squat. 

 

<_______<

Edited March 5, 2013 by Doctor XFizzle