"I read this!" button/link

[ilovegravy]

Title
"I read this!" button/link

Short, concise description of the idea
My suggestion is to add a "I read this!" (or something along those lines) button/link to each entry.

Full description of the ideaThe "I read this!" button/link could be similar to Facebook's "like" button, where it could list who clicked the "I read this" button, or the user

Comments

[lady_angelina]

While it's nice to know that someone did read your entry (especially someone who you really wanted to make sure saw it because it was relevant to their interests, yet everyone BUT that person commented), this would hardly be foolproof as a way to make sure they did read it. They could simply forget or choose not to click the button, or it may not show up for them, or they may find it wearisome to click "I read this!" on every single entry they read, especially if they have a very active Friends page.

[silverflight8]

IA about all of this. It all depends on the person who's reading, so the count will not be as accurate as the entry maker might hope.

[ilovegravy]

I feel dumb, as I really shouldn't have included the stats-aspect of my suggestion (it was just an inconsequential afterthought), because the actual point of this feature was not to give an accurate/comprehensive count of who is reading your posts, it was simply to give commenters the option to acknowledge a post when they didn't have anything to add in comment form. Sorry for the misunderstanding!!

[silverflight8]

Ah, I get what you're saying. Yeah, that makes sense.

[lady_angelina]

My Guests doesn't work if you've set yours to invisible and/or the reader has set theirs to invisible.

There are also third-party tracking tools, but again, they're far from a foolproof way to know who's reading your journal because IP addresses are too unreliable as a means to identify someone. Plus, someone who has images or scripting disabled can easily sidestep these trackers.

[ilovegravy]

hehe thanks for the suggestion :) (I myself am a crazy hermit and keep myself invisible, haha)

But I guess even with that tracker, it doesn't necessarily mean that the person read your post(s), just that they were there.

As a sidenote (I'm replying to everyone to clarify my suggestion. haha), a lot of people seem to be misunderstanding the point of my suggestion (which I blame myself for not clarifying more :/), which is that I just wanted to give commenters the option to acknowledge a post when they don't have anything to add in comment form. It was not meant to be a comprehensive statistical gathering feature, just an alternative for those who want to let someone know they read a post but have nothing to say.

[andrewducker]

I'd prefer an "I liked this" button. Or "applause". Or something else that indicated that they thought it was good.

[ilovegravy]

That could work! I just chose the neutral "I read this" just in case the post is not something positive, but you want to acknowledge it regardless.

[silverflight8]

You can also modify it yourself, like people modify their "add a comment" and "remember this" links.

[ilovegravy]

Ah yes, good idea! (haha if this feature ever sees the light of day.)

[polyfrog]

I agree with lady_angelina; there is no way to make someone click the button just because you wish you knew if they'd read your post.

[ilovegravy]

I apologize for the misunderstanding in my suggestion! I had absolutely no intention of making this some sort of comprehensive statistical collecting feature. (I actually included the stats-aspect as a completely inconsequential afterthought)

there is no way to make someone click the button just because you wish you knew if they'd read your post.

I totally agree, and that's why the whole point of this feature (at least, for me personally) is not for the writer of the post to know exactly who is reading, but for the commenter to have the option to acknowledge a post if they have nothing to contribute in comment form.

I realize now that I should have elaborated more when I submitted my suggestion :/ at the time I did not realize that people would misunderstand what I was getting it. haha Ah well.

[polyfrog]

Ah.

Then I like this even less. You're suggesting a way for someone to inarticulate to type a one-line comment about the post to "comment"? Aren't we better than that?

[ilovegravy]

As I commented to someone else:

(haha, and now to be lazy and copy/paste)

I agree that this suggestion does sound like it's just enabling the lazy, haha, but I feel like laziness isn't the only reason people don't comment. Quite often friends tell me that they read my posts, but can't think of anything to say/add in comment form, so they choose to not comment at all. (which also happens to me when I read my friends list) I guess one could argue that that's also lazy because if they just put their mind to it, they could think of SOMETHING. hahah But I mean, to be fair, I don't think people should have to wrack their brains to come up with a comment, especially if it's about something trivial.

-----

I understand that this feature might cause people to just start clicking the button instead of commenting (which I do think the Like-button has sorta done on Facebook), but I guess I am optimistically/naively thinking that people would still comment if they actually had something to say. But maybe not. haha

[scolaro]

Well, personally I'd probably use it a couple of times, then wouldn't bother anymore. It makes sense for fanfiction entries and suchlike, but as others pointed out, people would likely not use it on every single entry they read, so it's not a reliable tool to begin with.

If we'd really have to go with a button I'd go with the "kudos" one from AO3 or the "like" one from FB (but I really don't think any of those are necessary here).

[ilovegravy]

Ah yes, I didn't think about it, but fanfic/etc. entries would work well with this option!

As I replied to others, I am kinda kicking myself for including the stats-aspect in my suggestion, as that was a totally inconsequential afterthought, and what I actually wanted from this feature was to give people the option to acknowledge someone's post when they don't have anything to add in comment form.

I can definitely foresee people (myself included) not using it after awhile, but as I was telling others, I didn't mean for this feature to be comprehensive in letting people know who is reading, it's more for the commenter to have the option IF they choose to use it, whether it be often, to rarely to never. haha

[scolaro]

Ok, I get it, but then I'd suggest (like other already have, below) to use empty comments and only icons in the subject fields instead. They at least can display some sort of feeling the reader had about the entry (thumb up, thumb down, happy face etc).

[ilovegravy]

hehe indeed, seems like that's the most feasible option at this point. Thanks for the suggestion!