I feel like people should always add something to the discussion when they make their comments.
I try to get involved a lot with the community (even when I have nothing to add to the discussion), but it's rarely just to comment to an article saying "that's cool." "nice." - I try to at least formulate an idea on why I think something is cool, or why I agree with something.
If you simply like an article or a post, there is always the "upvote" button for that.
I agree. That's what I've been trying to do. Although, there was one time where I just said, "What an interesting and quirky video! Thanks for the post!" Or something along those lines. It may be a bit more than 5 words, but didn't really contribute a whole lot. However, it did end up starting a comment train, so I guess it can't be all that bad!
Actually that's a good point. Sometimes it's also just a good way to let people know you read/watched what they posted and found it interesting, even if it doesn't necessarily illicit discussion.
Sometimes a brief reaction to something is more of a community-building device than an upvote which can secretly signal so many different things. Whether it's in reaction to something I snapped or a tiny response in a conversation, I try to keep an open mind about the intent of short responses rather than wondering why they're not performing a writing marathon (XP farming is pretty easy to spot).
Upvotes can signal so many different things, from someone's agreement with the content, a stamp of approval for something that is well-written, recognition of a well-crafted angle, making one laugh, etc. A short commentary, even if it's not really contributing a lot, is sometimes just be a really nice and direct way to express thanks and one's feeling toward the content. Sometimes "This blew my mind," "You're not alone," "I cried for hours" or "This made my day" can be perfectly succinct and appropriate. Granted, a thread with 100 of these responses in succession would be annoying...
I feel like people should always add something to the discussion when they make their comments.
I try to get involved a lot with the community (even when I have nothing to add to the discussion), but it's rarely just to comment to an article saying "that's cool." "nice." - I try to at least formulate an idea on why I think something is cool, or why I agree with something.
If you simply like an article or a post, there is always the "upvote" button for that.
I agree. That's what I've been trying to do. Although, there was one time where I just said, "What an interesting and quirky video! Thanks for the post!" Or something along those lines. It may be a bit more than 5 words, but didn't really contribute a whole lot. However, it did end up starting a comment train, so I guess it can't be all that bad!
Actually that's a good point. Sometimes it's also just a good way to let people know you read/watched what they posted and found it interesting, even if it doesn't necessarily illicit discussion.
Sometimes a brief reaction to something is more of a community-building device than an upvote which can secretly signal so many different things. Whether it's in reaction to something I snapped or a tiny response in a conversation, I try to keep an open mind about the intent of short responses rather than wondering why they're not performing a writing marathon (XP farming is pretty easy to spot).
Upvotes can signal so many different things, from someone's agreement with the content, a stamp of approval for something that is well-written, recognition of a well-crafted angle, making one laugh, etc. A short commentary, even if it's not really contributing a lot, is sometimes just be a really nice and direct way to express thanks and one's feeling toward the content. Sometimes "This blew my mind," "You're not alone," "I cried for hours" or "This made my day" can be perfectly succinct and appropriate. Granted, a thread with 100 of these responses in succession would be annoying...