24
votes
Should I thank someone or just use the upvote button?
I'm new to Tildes, and searched for this question but didn't find a topic covering this. I've read the instructions, and I know comments that contribute to the topic are much more desired here, and that, in theory, you shouldn't just comment something another commenter has said. Does this apply to thanking another commenter, or even the original poster of a thread? Say someone replied to me with a useful comment. Should I rather thank them or just upvote them? Would the former increase noise.
I know I'm unlikely to get an absolute anwer, but I'd rather ask the community for pointers than assume.
There's a great thread about this here:
https://tildes.net/~tildes/18g0/non_anonymous_thank_you_function
And a particularly helpful comment here:
https://tildes.net/~tildes/18g0/non_anonymous_thank_you_function#comment-9qhi
TLDR:
Nothing wrong with commenting to say "Thanks!", it's nice to express appreciation. If your comment is just "Thanks!" without adding anything more to the conversation, then it will probably be labeled as "noise". And the "noise" label isn't necessarily a bad thing, or a point against you. It just marks the comment as something that others reading the conversation can probably just gloss over. :)
If you want to go the extra mile and add more to the conversation while also expressing appreciation, try to think about the specific reason why you found the post so helpful, and include that in your thank-you comment.
Just one thing. I may be wrong, but I believe "noise" comments still bump the post. Maybe @deimos or @cfabbro can correct me if I'm wrong.
At the very least, it will bump the post in the time before it receives the label. This is why I avoid "thank you" comments on old inactive posts. I don't have an exact cutoff. It varies. But let's say, I would avoid needlessly bumping posts without new content in the last 48 hours.
AFAIK replies to Noise comments can still bump Activity All, but not Activity. Comments that eventually get labeled Noise will have bumped the topic, but IIRC the Noise label will retroactively undo that bump.
In any case, I don't think discouraging "thanks" type comments on anything but really old posts is a good idea though, since friendliness is something we should be encouraging. But that's also why I'm a big advocate for the "aside" comment idea so people can more freely express gratitude and such without having to worry about bumping topics.
I do also find that a random bump brings me back to a post that I wanted to reply to with a more substantial comment or that I actually had a bunch of new comments to read on. So, it's not a bad thing to bump an old post occasionally either.
Sure, absolutely. Just exercise common sense. There is no specific rule for any of that.
You'll most likely hear different opinions on the matter. Some will say that it's okay to say "thank you", but try to add some extra information about why and what you're thanking it for. Others may find that an upvote would suffice. I personally believe it is okay to just say "thanks :)", it is more personal than an upvote and an acceptable way to show appreciation. Just maybe don't do it every time, and never on an old post. That's how I do it anyway.
Votes are anonymous, so "thanks" might be better when it matters that it comes specifically from you. That said, I typically vote and leave when I have nothing more to say. Maybe that's a bad habit.
Thanks for posting, wondered about that too.