I have seen a few posts I'd like to show that I approve of with out needing to dedicate a post for just that. A few other forums have a reputation or a thumbs up system for posts, is there a way to add this to felicifia?

This is for posts, not threads.

Thanks, Nap! I would have given a thumbs up to this post if I could have, but I can't.

I agree that a thumbs-up button would be a great feature.

The main argument I've heard against them is that they make places quite cliquey, and become self-perpetuating (if everyone else upvotes someone, you're more likely to). I don't have a strong view either way.

The system seems to work fine in the utilitarian facebook group. If any thing I think it'd work better here.

I think the ability to Like a post provides a lot of valuable signal. You can get a sense of how people feel about many ideas at a finer level of detail than if you just read explicit replies (which are biased toward those who have the strongest opinions, usually contrary opinions).

I'm not that worried about clique behavior. Sometimes I do Like things for ulterior reasons (e.g., as a sign of goodwill to a newcomer or an opponent in a debate), but usually it's because I actually like it.

I'm not necessarily of the opinion that a rep / thumbs up button would be beneficial to felicifia. The main advantage is that it would encourage posting. However, I feel that we already have the utilitarianism group on facebook. The main advantage of the forum in the first place is that it injects some degree of class.

I think ultimately, if felicifia wanted an upvote system, it would make sense to start a proper group blog, like 80,000 Hours, and like the Lesswrong Blog. In fact, I would argue that if someone has some work that they are particularly proud of, the Lesswrong Blog and 80,000 Hours are already good places to have their ideas tested.

Creating a rep / thumbs up button would take a fair bit of work to find, implement and maintain.

RyanCarey wrote:Creating a rep / thumbs up button would take a fair bit of work to find, implement and maintain.

You might be right. I'm not sure how hard it would be.

I do know that forums can have like buttons short of a full-blown LessWrong-style reranking system. For example, the Nature Sucks forum has a Thank You button.