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"Liking" other people's logs


-KROP-

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I'm not interested in such a feature. First of all, I'm not that interested that someone likes something unless they explain why they liked it, and a "like" button just discourages explanations.

 

Furthermore, I find that a desire to complement someone about their log or explain why a log was good or helpful encourages me to find the cache so I can complement them in my legitimate and relevant Found (or DNF) log. My attitude is that searching for the cache gives me the authority to express an opinion on logs, and until I've looked for it, I keep my feelings about the cache or entries in its log to myself.

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A problem I can foresee is this:

 

Say there is a log posted in March that gives some hint about how to find the cache. That log is "liked" alot, and becomes the top log on the cache page. Sever months or years later, no other log has been a good enough hint to get as many likes since that one. Unfortunately, that one great log no longer applies due to various reasons.

 

Sorry, I'm bad at explaining thingsrolleyes.gif

 

Anyway, this topic comes up from time to time. Can't wait to see this discussion go down.sig_popcorn.gif

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It's been brought up before. I personally think that it should stay on Facebook or YouTube.

 

I honestly see no problem with it. You see it in a lot more places than just Facebook or Youtube. In a lot of the commenting areas of tech/culture blogs like Gizmodo, Gawker, Engadget (etc.) you see "recommend" or up-voting...Google has the +1. It's a common feature that actually has a purpose beyond being a popularity contest. I'm not saying I want this...only that it goes beyond a thumbs up on Facebook. Heck, even Amazon has the feature for giving feedback on whether a review was helpful.

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I like this idea.

 

I really enjoy reading other people's adventures and when I have a particularly interesting adventure myself I try to write a decent log about it, mostly for myself, but also in case there are others out there like me.

 

Now, any feature that helps me find those other people's interesting logs the better, I say.

 

And if you don't like the "like" button, don't click on it and don't look at the like numbers. It's just the same as favourite points anyway, but for logs...

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A problem I can foresee is this:

 

Say there is a log posted in March that gives some hint about how to find the cache. That log is "liked" alot, and becomes the top log on the cache page. Sever months or years later, no other log has been a good enough hint to get as many likes since that one. Unfortunately, that one great log no longer applies due to various reasons.

 

Sorry, I'm bad at explaining thingsrolleyes.gif

I think I get it...

Someone posts a spoiler and everyone afterwards "likes" his post, simply because he told them where it is.

- All others could become ho-hum posts (by "likes"), no matter how wordy or eloquent they are.

 

And I'd like the option to "dis-like" that spoiler post that kinda ruined the hunt for me. ;)

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A problem I can foresee is this:

 

Say there is a log posted in March that gives some hint about how to find the cache. That log is "liked" alot, and becomes the top log on the cache page. Sever months or years later, no other log has been a good enough hint to get as many likes since that one. Unfortunately, that one great log no longer applies due to various reasons.

 

Sorry, I'm bad at explaining thingsrolleyes.gif

I think I get it...

Someone posts a spoiler and everyone afterwards "likes" his post, simply because he told them where it is.

- All others could become ho-hum posts (by "likes"), no matter how wordy or eloquent they are.

 

And I'd like the option to "dis-like" that spoiler post that kinda ruined the hunt for me. ;)

 

You're assuming that logs would then be sorted by "likes"? Odd. While sorting by logs could potentially be an option, I can't imagine that would ever be the default sort, in which case, just don't sort them by "likes" if you don't like "likes". Simple solution really.

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A problem I can foresee is this:

 

Say there is a log posted in March that gives some hint about how to find the cache. That log is "liked" alot, and becomes the top log on the cache page. Sever months or years later, no other log has been a good enough hint to get as many likes since that one. Unfortunately, that one great log no longer applies due to various reasons.

 

Sorry, I'm bad at explaining thingsrolleyes.gif

I think I get it...

Someone posts a spoiler and everyone afterwards "likes" his post, simply because he told them where it is.

- All others could become ho-hum posts (by "likes"), no matter how wordy or eloquent they are.

 

And I'd like the option to "dis-like" that spoiler post that kinda ruined the hunt for me. ;)

 

You're assuming that logs would then be sorted by "likes"? Odd. While sorting by logs could potentially be an option, I can't imagine that would ever be the default sort, in which case, just don't sort them by "likes" if you don't like "likes". Simple solution really.

Just as many say they go by favorite points to look for caches, if this option were available I'd think that many would also naturally gravitate to the most-liked post, if nothing else but to see why it's so.

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My reaction at first was dry.gif. But I get that the OP is hoping that a "like" button might encourage more interesting online logs. I think there's a good chance that it would. It might also be fun to occasionally pull up the liked logs on a cache to see what people are writing. Could make for interesting reading during some spare indoor time. Regarding spoilers getting more likes, if it were my cache and the spoiler bothered me, I'd ask the finder to remove the spoiler.

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I think it'd be a great feature to be able to "like" people's logs and/or photos when they are helpful or funny.

 

Also, it might encourage people to write interesting logs and add more photos.

 

What's the best way to raise such a suggestion?

 

Please no... does everything have to look like twitface?

 

If you like a log so much drop a private message to the person who wrote it and thank them for it. It's a lot more personal than counting people who clicked a link.

 

I still remember the time a CO thanked me for making him smirk with my Note log explaining why I'd decided not to attempt to retrieve his cache even though I could see it. If a hundred people had clicked a Like button chances are I wouldn't even have noticed.

 

I wonder how long it would be before "TFTC" got lots of likes because, you know, the person was gracious in thanking the hider for the cache.

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As long as I could ignore whether logs were liked, disliked, or whatever, and as long as I could just view the most recent logs regardless of whether they were liked, disliked, or whatever, I don't really care about this suggestion one way or the other.

 

Except that there have been much more useful suggestions posted, and I'd rather Groundspeak's developers invest their time and energy in those suggestions instead.

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Please no... does everything have to look like twitface?

 

If you like a log so much drop a private message to the person who wrote it and thank them for it. It's a lot more personal than counting people who clicked a link.

 

I still remember the time a CO thanked me for making him smirk with my Note log explaining why I'd decided not to attempt to retrieve his cache even though I could see it. If a hundred people had clicked a Like button chances are I wouldn't even have noticed.

The purpose of a "like" on a log, to me, is not to thank the person that wrote it, or the person that placed the cache, but to offer some kind of mechanism so that people like me, who just like reading interesting logs about interesting caches in interesting places, can find them. It seems a little strange to me to think it's only purpose would be to thank a log writer.

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I don't mind either way though an additional like button and like counter would only clutter up the logs I'm afraid. One thing I certainly don't want to see is that other people can, with a simple like click, integrate my logs into their facebook. That would certainly be a reason for me to stop writing somewhat longer logs.

 

Mrs. terratin

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As long as I could ignore whether logs were liked, disliked, or whatever, and as long as I could just view the most recent logs regardless of whether they were liked, disliked, or whatever, I don't really care about this suggestion one way or the other.

 

Except that there have been much more useful suggestions posted, and I'd rather Groundspeak's developers invest their time and energy in those suggestions instead.

^This. All of it.

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As long as I could ignore whether logs were liked, disliked, or whatever, and as long as I could just view the most recent logs regardless of whether they were liked, disliked, or whatever, I don't really care about this suggestion one way or the other.

 

Except that there have been much more useful suggestions posted, and I'd rather Groundspeak's developers invest their time and energy in those suggestions instead.

^This. All of it.

 

Although I don't think the Like idea is bad, I also agree with niraD.

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As long as I could ignore whether logs were liked, disliked, or whatever, and as long as I could just view the most recent logs regardless of whether they were liked, disliked, or whatever, I don't really care about this suggestion one way or the other.

 

Except that there have been much more useful suggestions posted, and I'd rather Groundspeak's developers invest their time and energy in those suggestions instead.

^This. All of it.

 

Although I don't think the Like idea is bad, I also agree with niraD.

 

This isn't FacePlant. There are good reasons why I avoid FacePlant. Complete inanity. Besides which, the Hamsters have better things to do with their time. So , I vote NO!

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A problem I can foresee is this:

 

Say there is a log posted in March that gives some hint about how to find the cache. That log is "liked" alot, and becomes the top log on the cache page. Sever months or years later, no other log has been a good enough hint to get as many likes since that one. Unfortunately, that one great log no longer applies due to various reasons.

 

Sorry, I'm bad at explaining thingsrolleyes.gif

 

Anyway, this topic comes up from time to time. Can't wait to see this discussion go down.sig_popcorn.gif

 

I can't see where anyone has mentioned this having any effect on the order in which the logs are displayed. At it's most simple this just puts something on a log to show that someone "likes" that log for some reason.

 

I don't mind either way though an additional like button and like counter would only clutter up the logs I'm afraid. One thing I certainly don't want to see is that other people can, with a simple like click, integrate my logs into their facebook. That would certainly be a reason for me to stop writing somewhat longer logs.

 

Mrs. terratin

 

Also nobody has mentioned facebook integration either, I assume that this could be done so that the only thing really affected is the "like" counter on that single log. I've done a quick mock-up to show it wouldn't take up too much realestate on the log its self either.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gcgpuf9qngbtrit/logs.jpg

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Please no... does everything have to look like twitface?

 

If you like a log so much drop a private message to the person who wrote it and thank them for it. It's a lot more personal than counting people who clicked a link.

 

I still remember the time a CO thanked me for making him smirk with my Note log explaining why I'd decided not to attempt to retrieve his cache even though I could see it. If a hundred people had clicked a Like button chances are I wouldn't even have noticed.

The purpose of a "like" on a log, to me, is not to thank the person that wrote it, or the person that placed the cache, but to offer some kind of mechanism so that people like me, who just like reading interesting logs about interesting caches in interesting places, can find them. It seems a little strange to me to think it's only purpose would be to thank a log writer.

 

So now you're wanting an ability to "like" a log, then find logs that have been "liked" by specified people? It would be more to the point to have a forum section where people could comment on caches they particularly liked.

 

I remember a cache I once found that left me utterly underwhelmed. It was a film pot in a dark corner of an overflow parking area at the train station, buried under a pile of assorted rubbish. The cache hider hadn't even bothered to use a magnet to attach it to the guard rail, they just dumped it in a corner. It was a truly dismal cache. If someone wrote a cuttingly sarcastic log commenting on how much they enjoyed rummaging through other peoples' trash in a dark corner of an obscure parking area the chances are they'd have attracted a few "Like" points and yet even if the log was interesting the cache wasn't and the location wasn't.

 

If people write a one-star review of something on Amazon (other online retailers are available) you might find the review helpful even though it made you decide not to buy the product. As far as I can see being able to like a cache log achieves nothing except wasting limited GS development resources on something that does nothing to improve the game of geocaching.

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So now you're wanting an ability to "like" a log, then find logs that have been "liked" by specified people?

 

Who said "liked by specified people"?

 

Anyway, I'm just commenting on someone else's suggestion. I often wonder about the interesting geo-stories I am missing out on because the caches they are logged on caches far away I don't know about, or which have disappeared into the purgatory of archiveland. I thought this suggestion might enhance my geo-experience if it allowed me to find some of those interesting stories, but I apologise if that offends some of you and would somehow reduce your enjoyment of the game.

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So now you're wanting an ability to "like" a log, then find logs that have been "liked" by specified people?

 

Who said "liked by specified people"?

 

Anyway, I'm just commenting on someone else's suggestion. I often wonder about the interesting geo-stories I am missing out on because the caches they are logged on caches far away I don't know about, or which have disappeared into the purgatory of archiveland. I thought this suggestion might enhance my geo-experience if it allowed me to find some of those interesting stories, but I apologise if that offends some of you and would somehow reduce your enjoyment of the game.

 

If you want to find logs that have been liked by people then presumably you want to be able to filter out the ones that have been liked by their buddies. You know, the ones who go round liking each others' logs even if all they do say is "TFTC".

 

Whenever you count something somebody is going to rack up a huge "score" by whatever means it takes. So if these "likes" are marked and scored people are going to seek out ways to collect a lot of them (rendering them meaningless) and if they are not counted they are meaningless anyway.

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So now you're wanting an ability to "like" a log, then find logs that have been "liked" by specified people?

 

Who said "liked by specified people"?

 

Anyway, I'm just commenting on someone else's suggestion. I often wonder about the interesting geo-stories I am missing out on because the caches they are logged on caches far away I don't know about, or which have disappeared into the purgatory of archiveland. I thought this suggestion might enhance my geo-experience if it allowed me to find some of those interesting stories, but I apologise if that offends some of you and would somehow reduce your enjoyment of the game.

 

If you want to find logs that have been liked by people then presumably you want to be able to filter out the ones that have been liked by their buddies. You know, the ones who go round liking each others' logs even if all they do say is "TFTC".

 

Whenever you count something somebody is going to rack up a huge "score" by whatever means it takes. So if these "likes" are marked and scored people are going to seek out ways to collect a lot of them (rendering them meaningless) and if they are not counted they are meaningless anyway.

 

If something like this was implemented, I'd almost rather it be something along the lines of the Amazon reviews where it asks whether the review was "helpful". "Was this log helpful?"

I suppose the danger of that is the most "helpful" logs end up being the ones with the hints or spoilers. Perhaps instead of "helpful", it could be something like "entertaining" or "enjoyable". Nobody could ever really argue that a "TFTC" was entertaining or enjoyable.

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So now you're wanting an ability to "like" a log, then find logs that have been "liked" by specified people?

 

Who said "liked by specified people"?

 

Anyway, I'm just commenting on someone else's suggestion. I often wonder about the interesting geo-stories I am missing out on because the caches they are logged on caches far away I don't know about, or which have disappeared into the purgatory of archiveland. I thought this suggestion might enhance my geo-experience if it allowed me to find some of those interesting stories, but I apologise if that offends some of you and would somehow reduce your enjoyment of the game.

 

If you want to find logs that have been liked by people then presumably you want to be able to filter out the ones that have been liked by their buddies. You know, the ones who go round liking each others' logs even if all they do say is "TFTC".

 

Whenever you count something somebody is going to rack up a huge "score" by whatever means it takes. So if these "likes" are marked and scored people are going to seek out ways to collect a lot of them (rendering them meaningless) and if they are not counted they are meaningless anyway.

 

If something like this was implemented, I'd almost rather it be something along the lines of the Amazon reviews where it asks whether the review was "helpful". "Was this log helpful?"

I suppose the danger of that is the most "helpful" logs end up being the ones with the hints or spoilers. Perhaps instead of "helpful", it could be something like "entertaining" or "enjoyable". Nobody could ever really argue that a "TFTC" was entertaining or enjoyable.

 

True, but if "enjoyable" points are counted in any sense you'll see people teaming up to gain a big "score". However it's worded there will be the problem that spoiler logs will get lots of points, and people will form teams to mark up their friends. So any value anyone else might get from it would be minimal, and short-lived.

 

Then, as someone already mentioned, the chances are people will start to create challenge caches that require a certain number of "likes" so people will start trading them to qualify for challenges.

 

Even looking at Amazon people who write one-star reviews because the product was broken on arrival or five-star reviews because the product arrived so fast (i.e. an utterly useless review) still get a few people saying their review was helpful. And any time "helpful" is offered as an option a lot of people will interpret it as "do I agree with this review"?

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I posted a suggestion like this a few years ago, and it received some support, but then faded away. I like the idea of acknowledging clever logs. They add variety to the cache description page, and in turn, I feel, encourage the placement of more interesting caches.

 

But you don't want the cache page cluttered up with a lot of likes and dislikes. Better for the reward of "best log" to be given only to a single log per cache, and the designation should be made by the CO. The award shouldn't be "locked in;" if a better log is later written, the award should be reassigned. The favored log might be highlighted in some way, but should remain in chronological order, and not advanced to the top of the page. Finally, a count should be maintained on the log writer's Profile page of how many times they've been favored with the "Best Log" tribute.

Edited by El Fartero
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Further research would suggest this "like" feature would be more important to certain demographics (or generational groups) and also suggests its more important to the log poster than the log reader ...

 

The Psychology of “Like, Share & Comment”

 

What is our objective in this endeavor? To gain a reaction from others. We want people to sit up and take notice. How do we fuel that longing for attention? Enter the “Like” button. I am a victim/proponent too. I post a picture from a concert I have recently been to, with a crafted tag line, and sit by my computer, waiting for people to comment on or like it. It gives me immense satisfaction that people appreciate the humor/sarcasm/imagery/etc.

 

Perhaps, an ability to bookmark "logs" (as users already can do with caches) that would meet the (albeit interpreted) objective of being able to generate an interesting collection of logs, stories, or reading lists. Ultimately, for review and sharing (if so inclined).

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Further research would suggest this "like" feature would be more important to certain demographics (or generational groups) and also suggests its more important to the log poster than the log reader ...

 

There are certain contexts where a "like" or "helpful" button can serve a useful purpose. At Amazon it can help me weigh a review in deciding whether to buy a product. At Huffington it can let me know if there are people who actually agree with a poster's rant, or allow me to say that I agree without having to echo the same thing. But a caching log is not a product review nor is it part of a fleeting social discourse on a particular topic. So a "like feature" here would have more to do a poster' s need for affirmation than anything else.

 

When I first started playing this game, there were some people who earned deserved reputations for the logs they wrote. In a day when caches are placed in parking lots because there was a shocking lack of listings in the area, it is harder to find those kinds of logs. But ultimately I write logs for myself - and I might be the only one who reads them. If there is something about a cache that spurs a stream of consciousness, it is fun to write a longer log. If I took a picture or two in the area, I enjoy adding that to my gallery. I like the transitory nature of it, that my log will move towards the bottom as we all move on.

 

Not everything needs to be subject to a vote. If my logs were able to be "liked," I would probably write less and "like" the TFTC logs, similar in some ways to how Edward Abbey commented on environmental attitudes. If a CO enjoys a log, there are ample ways to acknowledge it. I don't see this feature as adding anything to the game.

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