See I would love to be able to like or thank this post. The like function is pretty much standard on any forum and it’s absence here is glaring. Sure there will be people out farming for likes or those that don’t get any and feel left out but that can happen with comments as well. Having a like or thanks function just lets people know that their material was read and appreciated without having to do a whole reply.
For example it can be very disconcerting when somebody asks a question, you take time to respond and then nothing. Did they read the response? Did they not like what you said? Were other people interested in what you said?
There is a thread about GBs where the reducing forum use is part of the discussing. For a forum to be effective beyond just gathering information there needs to be a sense of community. Beyond a few old timers there is very little sense of community here as interaction between members is restricted to typing a reply to anything that interests them. A simple like, or thanks button can increase that sense of community when at least you know people took the time to read what you wrote. Number of views doesn’t matter if those viewing looked at the first picture of the thread and then just went away.
Forums such as Britmodeller and Model Car Magazine feel like a community in part due to the use of a simple like button.