Why Asking For People To Click The "Thanks" Button Is Dumb

Hey Everyone!

Wiz here . . .

I just wanted to take a moment to address an ongoing issue that has plagued BHW for a long time, and continues to do so . . . It has to do with people asking for members to hit the "Thanks" button.

Granted, I have been given over 7,000 "thank you's" from the members of BHW, and I appreciate every one of them, although they really don't count for anything except to let you know that your post was appreciated. You won't get EXECUTIVE VIP or JR. VIP status from the amount of times people click the "Thanks" button.

So for those who want more "thank you's", I am about to share with you how I got them. It is actually quite easy:

1) Post really valuable info or post downloads that members want and/or like.

2) DON'T . . . I repeat . . . DON'T ASK FOR PEOPLE TO CLICK THE "THANKS" BUTTON.

NOTE: If item #2 (shown above) doesn't make any sense to you, then please allow me to create a visual picture of my reasoning behind that statement:

HERE IS A SCENARIO:

Let's say you are near the exit door at a grocery store and you see a lady coming out with her arms full of groceries. You open the door for her and say, "Don't forget to thank me for opening the door for you." Now she may or may not thank you, but either way, she will be thinking, "What a jerk!"

NOW LET'S CHANGE THE SCENARIO:

You open the door for her and politely say, "Here you go ma'am." Now she will more-than-likely, whole-heartedly thank you and think to herself, "What a nice person that was!"

Guilt-tripping people into thanking you is REALLY TACKY and in essence, you aren't really doing anyone a favor - You are just TRADING your post in-return for someone clicking the "Thanks" button . . . and THAT is not in the spirit of sharing here at BHW.

So, in summary, let people decide for themselves if your post was valuable enough to deserve a click on the "Thanks" button. You may be surprised at the results

Cheers!
Your Friend - "Wiz"

wiz you took it to a hole new level just let them be lol

Well said Wiz..

i vote take it off

Ok.. but what I'm doing in the next scenario:

"when I'm so polite to open the door for the lady... and she enters, but she don't say anything to me and she's looks haughty to me."

I'm thinking fucking bitch... the next time I'm not willing to open anny doors for you, I'm gonna slam the door in your face.

I mean.. hitting the thanks button is something that I (speaking for myself) do for posts that have anny value for me. I'm not reading every post, but it seems to be polite to hit the thanks button.

Problem is that people are lazy (speaking for myself) and leaching a lot. When someone have taken the time to share something for everybody, the least he may espect is some thanks/gratitude ?

I'm glad you've opend the disusion... And I'm understanding what you're saying....

WTF... I'm gonna hit the thanks button for U

To deef:

You said, "When someone have taken the time to share something for everybody, the least he may expect is some thanks/gratitude ?"

You got it all wrong my friend . . . The object is to NOT expect people to click on the "Thanks" button. Just contribute and leave the rest to the members, and be glad in the fact that you did something good for BHW - thanks or not.

Cheers! - "Wiz"

deef said:

Ok.. but what I'm doing in the next scenario:

"when I'm so polite to open the door for the lady... and she enters, but she don't say anything to me and she's looks haughty to me."

I'm thinking fucking bitch... the next time I'm not willing to open anny doors for you, I'm gonna slam the door in your face.

I mean.. hitting the thanks button is something that I (speaking for myself) do for posts that have anny value for me. I'm not reading every post, but it seems to be polite to hit the thanks button.

Problem is that people are lazy (speaking for myself) and leaching a lot. When someone have taken the time to share something for everybody, the least he may espect is some thanks/gratitude ?

I'm glad you've opend the disusion... And I'm understanding what you're saying....

WTF... I'm gonna hit the thanks button for U

Click to expand...

so basically you do help others expecting them to be grateful to you? and if they aren't, you slam them and disregard them blaming them of being lazy and thankless? As far as my understanding of bhw goes, it;s all about sharing SELFLESSLY...if you know what that means...

I agree 100% with Wiz. But i think the thanks button should still be there or else you would get a whole bunch of useless thank you posts (which you still do).

But the scenario you put out was right on point

A thank you always cheers up a noob. I believe its all based on ego, those who have very little self-esteem or confidence find refuge in a "thank you" it make their life a little better and is not much of a hasle either.

There are points where some get crazed with attention or popularity here, and practically beg for thank yous

I dont mind seeing the "thank me" all over threads, if the memeber has done somethiong that deserves a thank you in my eyes, he'll get one.

Wiz,

You have touched on a subject that has been on my mind for a bit. So, many thanks for that post. You hit the nail on the head. If a post deserves a "thank you" (and that is in the eyes of the reader) then it will receive one. The pleading for thanks is, to my mind, immature and guilt-inducing. Let the post stand on its own merit. I think that in the long run it will feel a whole lot better when the posts have gotten "thank you" without the begging. Sharing means you're helping and true sharing and helping doesn't expect anything in return. So if you expect thanks for your post why not say it up front before you post:
"Hey everyone, I'm posting this share so I can get some "thanks" from you" and then leave it up to the reader to decide if they then want to read it.

Regards,
ironlifter76

I think if a member even refers to 'thank me' then they should be suspended. If they post something along the lines of '99 downloads and only one thanks', they should be banned. If a member posts '99 downloads and only one thanks, this really makes me think twice about sharing', they should be banned forever and their ass kicked daily.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

We should all hit that thanks button for WizGizmo, what he said is right!

Way to go Wiz, as usual you hit the nail on the head.

Thanks,
James

I think that the thanks button is good to save time and space. I hate it when I see threads with 3 pages long of "thank you for the great share" type of posts. It just doesn't make sense..... hit the button instead, you save your self 2sec of typing )) and you make the hole thread easier to read for the other members.

Good post Wiz, Personally I'm a little put off when people ask you to hit the thanks button. It sort of puts me off and takes something away from the post. Some times people can goad me into hitting the button and sometimes I rethink whether the post actually deserves a thanks or not

WIZ, I'd like to point out that I just thanked you for your post on thank you's. *COUGH COUGH COUGH*

Wiz, that was a very nice post and I totally see where you are coming from. I would like to share with you a different perspective because there are 6 million ways to skin a cat. So please I am not bashing your post, just giving my own opinion.

I have Mutual Respect for people. If you do not know the meaning of Mutual Respect; Mutual Respect is the ability to appreciate the fact that the other person can think differently than you.

You said and I quote "Guilt-tripping people into thanking you is REALLY TACKY and in essence, you aren't really doing anyone a favor, you aren't really doing anyone a favor - You are just TRADING your post in-return for someone clicking the "Thanks" button . . . and THAT is not in the spirit of sharing here at BHW."

There is absolutely nothing wrong in asking people to show gratitude. Just like Otto14 pointed out, I'd rather see a whole bunch of "Thanks" versus 3 to 4 pages of people saying thank you.

It is not a crime or a sin to ask for gratitude. Remember, people go out of their way share information. For those of us who are Christians, even our heavenly father (God) asks gratitude, least we forget, he did create us in his image.

There are tacky ways in which one might go about asking, but asking someone to hit the thank button is no different from those kind people that go out of their way to write good plugins for Wordpress blogs. A lot of them do not charge money, but in return ask for a donation. Let me ask this question, How many people here have actually gone out of their way to donate to Wikipedia.com? A lot of us use the Google XML Sitemap Generator By Arne Brachhold, but how many people have actually gone out of their way to give him money to buy a beer. People do not give him money, he does it out of the goodness of his heart.

Ask and it shall be given unto you. One can not assume that because information is shared that one will automatically hit the thank you button. Receiving gratitude is a good thing that enriches the soul. The more gratitude that is shown, the more people want to share. It is a fair question to ask if the information was good, hit the thank you button and if was not keep it moving.

Asking people to hit the thank you button can be a litmus test to see if the information they are sharing is worthwhile or not.

We are human beings and we are looking for gratitude in any way we can get it. So, If there is no harm in hitting the thank you button or preventing you from getting to the EXECUTIVE VIP or JR. VIP status, then by all means hit away, Hit em hard!

The scenario you used with the old lady is gesture of charity. This is Black Hat Forum, there is no CHARITY here, every one of us is looking for ways to make money in an opportunistic way.

In conclusion, since I am not getting paid when I post information on this forum, HIT THE FUCKING THANK BUTTON! Not only will I take it as gratitude, I will use it as a form of payment and maybe, I might just be inclined to share more information.


All in all Wiz, let me reiterate that I see where you are coming from, but I just wanted to share a different view.

I think the "thanks button"is more about respect if you got lots of thanks people well trust you more and you look like you know what your doing even if you don't...

Otto ,you hit the nail on the head.

The whole reason for the thanks button is so that we don't have to wade through 6 pages of crappy "thanks man" posts to sort through the real questions about why something was posted.

delete