I can only see two reasons for having the thumbs system. The first reason is, you can give the same member thumbs up for posts whenever you like, whereas with the rep system, you can only rep the same member again once you've given rep to a lot of other members first. The other reason is that because you can see who has repped you, neg repping has the consequence of causing friction and arguements, sometimes on the public messageboard itself. As some members publicly voice their frustration at being neg-repped on the messageboard, instead of keeping it private, which is what they should do. With the thumbs down, you can show your disapproval of a post without being dragged into a petty squabble over it, which I think is the reason why they are anonymous in the first place. Also, if they weren't anonymous, the whole board would be able to see who had given the thumbs, as opposed to just the person it was given to, as what happens with neg reps. So the resulting board disruption would be even worse. Whilst I can see advantages of the thumbs system over the rep system, it is more prone to being abused. As has been seen with Imaginary Being's posts lately. If the thumbs down weren't anonymous though, I think the consequence would be, that most people would simply stop giving them, therefore making their prescence here redundant. Personally, I think the thumbs system should either be gotten rid of altogether, or make it so that only thumbs up can be given. The rep system we have may not be perfect, but it's prescence pretty much negates any real need for the thumbs system.
nothing here is needed in fact this whole forum isnt "needed" lol...the world would survive just fine if the server crashed and everything was lost
...but where would I get all of my anal masturbation advice then, huh? I bet u didn't think of that. I like the thumbs.
of course it's not needed. i don't have a problem with it though. it's slightly entertaining, even when it is abused.
