With all due respect, I disagree about the benefits of a like button. Going by what I've observed on another forum, the thanks/like button not only does not add to the conversation, it seems to create a culture of a mutual admiration society. People start using the thanks button like a machine gun, because they feel that their status in the community is higher if their statistics reflect that they thank and were thanked x number of times. Seriously, I've seen a thread start, and then a bunch of people will respond with short positive comments (or copy the OP including 5 photos and then follow it with,"Great job,bro!") AND THEN, everybody thanks each other. IMHO this does not add to the conversation, it detracts from it.

Not that I have feel strongly about this subject.