Personally, I find the "Thanks" feature of forums such a negative feature. It becomes clique-ish. Friends thank eachother. Posts that don't really need a "thanks" get thanked. When you're having a conversation in person, you don't thank each other after every sentence. Popular people with lots of posts get lots of thanks. Scrolling down a thread and you have 0-2 thanks while others have over 5 because their friends followed them in a thread. It's like being the last kid standing being picked for a team. Or kids trading the new fad in toys and you only have 3 and they have a whole bag of them. In other words, it's a popularity contest.

THANKS for reading even if you do not agree or respond.

[Sabrina]

http://forums.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=143062

Interesting. I usually am the minority with my opinions.

[Evening]

I have/had a bit of an issue with the thanks in the past. On the first forum I went on, it wasn't very well monitored, well one of the moderators was actually one of the people causing trouble so not much could be done. Well I got attacked on this forum, and if that wasn't a trigger enough, the person that attacked me got a bunch of thanks from people. I can't tell you how much that hurt, seeing all these people taking this nasty persons side. Well I ended up leaving the forum, crying for 3 days and quitting my therapist for months because it triggered me so bad.
So when I came here and saw it was being used on this forum too, I panicked at first. I feel better about it now though because people aren't so full of s*** like this other place.

[pachyderm]

When I tried to enter Thanks to the first post in this thread I got

Warning: array_merge() [function.array-merge]: Argument #2 is not an array in [path]/post_thanks.php on line 57

[Evening]

*gasp!* You're right Pachyderm, I just tried and got the same thing (okay so I originally thought your comment was some joke that I didn't get so had to try for myself ). What does that mean?

[Evening]

Wait a sec, has Mocha been deleted as a member?

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by Evening

Wait a sec, has Mocha been deleted as a member?

If so, why does the third post have a Thanks after it?

[pegasus]

Originally Posted by pachyderm

Warning: array_merge() [function.array-merge]: Argument #2 is not an array in [path]/post_thanks.php on line 57

Argument #2 !

Seriously, I believe nobody can thank a 'guest.' It's possible that Sabrina thanked MochaFrapPlz while they were still a member.

[Evening]

Yeah I think so too, I tried thanking that comment as well to see what happened and the same thing came up.

[Sabrina]

Originally Posted by pegasus

Argument #2 !

Seriously, I believe nobody can thank a 'guest.' It's possible that Sabrina thanked MochaFrapPlz while they were still a member.

Well, that all happened rather suddenly. I am sorry MochaFraplz decided he / she had to leave.

[darkrunner]

Originally Posted by Sabrina

Well, that all happened rather suddenly. I am sorry MochaFraplz decided he / she had to leave.

I am sorry MochaFraplz left too. It makes me feel very sad.

[Evening]

Did Mocha decide to leave or was she(?) kicked out? I saw a few threads earlier today that have since been deleted, including on telling Doc. John to hurry up and read the messages in his inbox.

[Perna]

People don't hurriedly get kicked off PsychCentral. The only way to leave in a hurry is to ask to leave and hope DocJohn is on and reads your PM "soon". I can't quite figure out why someone would put a "Thanks" on a post from someone who is complaining about that feature? That's a bit like hugging a person who has asked to not be hugged.

I dont agree as I get thanked sometimes and I certainly am NOT a fav poster.

[DocJohn]

Mocha asked to leave a few weeks ago and that's what the PM comment was in reference to.

[NuckingFutz]

I think the thanks feature is a positive. It is there to backup what someone says. I am not aware of it being a popularity contest. I hope the thanks feature stays. As far as popularity issues go, this isn't the place for them. This is not a social site. This is a mental health site for people suffering for mental illness and personality disorders. It has come to my attention that several people on here that have been here a while, have not even been diagnosed. I'm not sure of the thinking behind this is, but it affects the board.

[lynn P.]

I like the thanks feature too - I use it many times a day for posts I think are well written or to support someone. Naturally if a poster isn't being supportive, they won't getting many thanks. Yes it's a mental health site but some members like myself don't have a psychological illness and are here to either support others or for relationship problems.

[sabby]

Originally Posted by NuckingFutz

It has come to my attention that several people on here that have been here a while, have not even been diagnosed. I'm not sure of the thinking behind this is, but it affects the board.

there may be many members who have not been diagnosed for a number of different reasons, including not having insurance nor being independently wealthy enough to pay out of pocket.

there are also members here who are here to learn about mental illness so that they can be more helpful to a friend or family member. mental illness touches many lives, those who suffer from it personally and those who support .......we all deserve support and that is why we are open to all.

our mission statement says it all -

The purpose of the Forums at Psych Central is simple -- it's a small community devoted to support for mental health and relationship issues.

support doesn't come from only those who are diagnosed, it can come from anyone, anywhere at anytime. i think that kind of diversity is what makes our site so wonderful!

((((((((((( NF ))))))))))))

The "thanks" button is one of my favorite features of this forum. SOME other forums have them however they are usually very strict about when they can and can't be used in a fear of it becoming clique-y. Either PC is proof that this fear is blown way out of proportion by cynical members or the members here on PC are just that loving and awesome because I have NEVER seen this issue here. I like to thank posts:

1. that I agree with the message of
2. that I found really helpful
3. that I appreciate

usually all 3 of those are in one. Though, I am thanking everyone who posts wishing me a happy birthday today too

[pachyderm]

Happy birthday, Kaika!

[pegasus]

Originally Posted by NuckingFutz

This is a mental health site for people suffering for mental illness and personality disorders. It has come to my attention that several people on here that have been here a while, have not even been diagnosed. I'm not sure of the thinking behind this is, but it affects the board.

I don't see a sign anywhere that says everyone must display their diagnosis and what do you mean by 'it affects the board'?

[Evening]

I think some people might be unsure and come here to find answers from people who are obviously going to know first hand, especially if they need some support but are not able to get to a therapist or doctor straight away. Others may have also been wrongly diagnosed, some people are here not for themselves but for others, and some may be suffering from something but then realise (like I recently did) that there maybe something else they are suffering from on top of already existing conditions.

[sabby]

thanks everyone for your input. the thanks button can be a great tool to use for many different reasons. at this time this thread will be closed.


sabby