# How do you feel about 'generic' thanks?



## Ardielley (Aug 4, 2013)

I'm curious to know how everyone here feels about what I call 'generic' thanks - by this, I mean threads where no matter what people post, everyone is either thanked by the OP or someone else viewing the thread.

For me, I view them as a thoughtful but somewhat meaningless gesture. I'm the type of person who generally only wants to be thanked if people actually like/are intrigued by what I have to say, so while I think these types of thanks are nice, they don't really mean much to me since everyone else is also being thanked. This might just be an Fi thing, though.


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

Ardielley said:


> I'm curious to know how everyone here feels about what I call 'generic' thanks - by this, I mean threads where no matter what people post, everyone is either thanked by the OP or someone else viewing the thread.
> 
> For me, I view them as a thoughtful but somewhat meaningless gesture. I'm the type of person who generally only wants to be thanked if people actually like/are intrigued by what I have to say, so while I think these types of thanks are nice, they don't really mean much to me since everyone else is also being thanked. This might just be an Fi thing, though.


At the very best, I like to think it's a genuine: "Thanks for your input, I hadn't thought of it that way, you've given me a new perspective to consider." At the very worst, I'd like to think it's a courtesy thing.


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro (Sep 4, 2010)

l love it when an OP thanks two posts in a thread that fiercely oppose one another. 

Or just thanks all posts in a debate thread, l think it makes good for good 'hosting'' but more importantly, is highly amusing at the same time because each person being thanked can't really believe the OP meant it after thanking something directly contradicting what they said.

l thank freely specifically so that people won't feel special when they get one :crazy:


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## Ardielley (Aug 4, 2013)

Lady O.W. Bro said:


> l love it when an OP thanks two posts in a thread that fiercely oppose one another.
> 
> Or just thanks all posts in a debate thread, l think it makes good for good 'hosting'' but more importantly, is highly amusing at the same time because each person being thanked can't really believe the OP meant it after thanking something directly contradicting what they said.
> 
> l thank freely specifically so that people won't feel special when they get one :crazy:


... So I guess I shouldn't feel special about the thank you just gave me?


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## Darkbloom (Aug 11, 2013)

ENFJ here!
Well,the kinds of thanks I like the most are unexpected ones,when I just post something and someone or more people thank it even if they aren't having a conversation with me.I also like thanks during conversation but those are quite expected,tbh I mind it a bit if I thank the other person and they don't thank me even if I know they are thankful on the inside lol
I also kinda like the generic kind although it is a bit disappointing,but I'm a collector so anything's better than nothing XD

Btw you are gonna give me a generic thank,right?:kitteh:


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## Amaryllis (Mar 14, 2014)

Lady O.W. Bro said:


> l love it when an OP thanks two posts in a thread that fiercely oppose one another.
> 
> Or just thanks all posts in a debate thread, l think it makes good for good 'hosting'' but more importantly, is highly amusing at the same time because each person being thanked can't really believe the OP meant it after thanking something directly contradicting what they said.


Well what I find interesting in debate threads (or in many other threads for that matter) are the different perspectives on a given problem. Two posts can contradict each other, but both can be really well thought and worthy of consideration for a lot of reasons.


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## ALongTime (Apr 19, 2014)

I like to think that anyone thanking my posts has read my post and thought about it and is thankful for my perspective (whether they agree with it or not), and maybe they'll think it over. So I don't mind if someone thanks two contradictory posts. Although I do get disappointed if the person has just thanked every post in the thread.

I find myself reading into thanks perhaps more than I should. Every time I'll take note of how many other posts they've thanked, and if they've just thanked mine it means a lot more to me than if they've thanked a lot of people's. That said, I can get disappointed if I post something that I've put a lot of thought in to and it doesn't get any/many thanks.

I apply the same standards when I thank other people's posts, I'll only do it if I've really read and thought about what they've said, because any more then it will dilute the value of my thanks.


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## MuChApArAdOx (Jan 24, 2011)

I don't take notice of thanks anymore than I do likes. When I leave a post it isn't because I expect anyone to agree or disagree with my thoughts, I leave a post to get my thoughts out there, nothing more or less. Fi isn't concerned with whether you like or dislike what is being said, we do it for our own rant and rave and less about how others perceive it.

I will give thanks more for comic posts than serious ones. Also material that is knowledgeable , interesting, or something I deem is helping me grow and learn. Maybe I'm a bit stingy with clicking the thank button, but honestly I don't even think about it, It isn't important in my mind, it doesn't define the material as good or bad.


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## lucia4 (Sep 5, 2014)

I view it as a necessary, quick little courtesy.

I know some people think it's unnecessary, though.


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro (Sep 4, 2010)

Ardielley said:


> ... So I guess I shouldn't feel special about the thank you just gave me?


No, that was kind of the point. Just call me the Fi Crusher :kitteh:

Seriously, though, l have a limited amount of mental space to allot to/ track these things. l'll willingly admit that.

lt's not always possible for me to remember how l feel about a certain poster/poster's posts from one day to the next or make a larger decision about whether or not to thank them or if they deserve it.

More of a day-to-day thing or hour-to-hour thing, sometimes minute-to-minute when on my phone.


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## ThreadDeath (Oct 28, 2014)

The _Thanking_ mechanism is typically implemented in discussion boards in order to minimize the occurrence frequency of "_+1_", "_I lol'd so hard at that_", "_great post!!1_" and similar responses. Since, in PerC's case, a user's _thank-count_ is merely a cosmetic profile field which doesn't affect her "status" or privileges within the community, and one has infinite _thanks_ to "spend", members aren't particularly motivated to _thank_ others' posts strictly on the basis of quality. And imho that's just fine. I don't _thank_ consistently myself, nor does it really bother me seeing a post containing just a picture in the "_Hot or Not_" thread to have received double or more _thanks_ than an outstanding essay submitted in the "_Critical Thinking_" sub-forum (probably due to the latter post not including a TL;DR version :tongue. Were my _thanks_ finite or had some sort of influence on others (e.g. ranks depended on the _thank-count_ instead of the _post-count_, or even moderating privileges were assigned to the overall most thanked members), as it happens to be on other platforms, I’d probably employ a more thoughtful _thanking_ strategy.

PS: I'll _thank_ this whole thread, because I can.


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## Amaryllis (Mar 14, 2014)

ThreadDeath said:


> PS: I'll _thank_ this whole thread, because I can.


And yet you can't thank your own posts, that's the true tragedy here, no real perfection can be achieved... :tongue:


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

I'm never opposed to getting thanked. 

I try to have meaning behind it whenever I thank someone, but that's just me.


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## ThreadDeath (Oct 28, 2014)

Amaryllis said:


> And yet you can't thank your own posts, that's the true tragedy here, no real perfection can be achieved... :tongue:


Well, that's life ;-) .

I wrote a little piece of JS a while back, which displays a random number (1-9999) of thanks beneath each and every post (my own included ;-) ). Sometimes when I feel like reading _every post_ within an interesting but lengthy thread, not just the thanked ones --where my eyes naturally tend to focus earlier, in anticipation of quality-- I run it; then forget about the thanks for a moment and focus on the content.


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## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

I like them. I like courtesy and a welcoming atmosphere. The fact that someone bothered to make a simple positive gesture is meaningful enough for me, it's a simple and nice way to have your presence acknowledged. I mean... since there isn't a convenient way to separately note the reason for every thanks that is given, aside from a full reply, I don't mind guessing at the reason I was thanked. I guess I'm not one to believe in 'word inflation', just because it's said a lot doesn't mean it's any less genuine each time, sure it could be but... I don't think it is necessarily. For each thank given in a thread there could be a different reason, so while some might just be "thanks for taking the time to answer", others may be extra super thanks for something that really struck you, but either way it's still nice. "Thanks" (along with other words) doesn't need to have a single meaning or single level of emotion, it's inevitable that people are going to set their own patterns for using it anyways so I don't really expect or want there to be uniformity in the usage, I guess I like flexibility of use.



MuChApArAdOx said:


> I don't take notice of thanks anymore than I do likes. When I leave a post it isn't because I expect anyone to agree or disagree with my thoughts, I leave a post to get my thoughts out there, nothing more or less. Fi isn't concerned with whether you like or dislike what is being said, we do it for our own rant and rave and less about how others perceive it. . . . .but honestly I don't even think about it, It isn't important in my mind, it doesn't define the material as good or bad.


Good point here, while it does give me a little emotional boost to know someone liked what I said, it's pretty rare that I'd feel disappointed that a particular post didn't get much notice, and I definitely don't watch for how many thanks something got to tell whether it might be a post worth reading, I never look at the thanks section on any posts really except when I get a notification that I happen to have been thanked for something, then I'll go check the thread to see if whoever thanked me has added a post that might be of interest. I don't really make a connection in my mind with thanks and some social hierarchy or anything, that sort of thing doesn't matter much.


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## General Lee Awesome (Sep 28, 2014)

why thank someone when there is no meaning behind it? but even a generic thank you does have its meaning. it can just be the OP thanking you for taking your time out to respond. however I when I give thank you it usually means somehow I found the post to be relatable, interesting, or funny. sometime, just to get my feeling across, I will reply to the post.


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## cain23_5 (May 23, 2014)

If nothing else it at least says that your post has been read and thanks for participating.


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## aendern (Dec 28, 2013)

I've never seen such a thread.


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## Narcissus (Dec 18, 2014)

I would of course prefer to see an actual answer to my post but I know only too well that sometimes you just don't have anything to say but still want to indicate that you do appreciate the person's input.


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## pivot_turn (Dec 10, 2014)

What I do usually is thank posts, when I really feel like there is something special about it; they made a good point, they were really funny, or they replied to me specifically. But I agree with what has said above, that it's a way to show your appreciation in a bit easier way than having to write a post, especially if you have nothing much to say otherwise. So I guess thanks can often be given a bit more easily than posts are written, but they should not be spread out randomly. 

Oh and I will feel special when people give me thanks.


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