Why is it important to acknowledge great answers or questions on Fluther?

It has something to do with acknowledging others contributions to the community as well as showing your appreciation/agreement with the answer in question. Some shit like that.

The acknowledgment of a great answer is five lurve points; for a great question, it is 3 lurve points.

Why give them? Because if the answer is well-written and solves the questioner’s problem, it is a way for the questioner to thank the answerers for their effort.

If you are not the questioner, then it is a form of applause for a well-written answer or intriguing question that informed you, entertained you, etc.

Welcome to the community. Here’s a description of how the scoring works.

@Marina thanks that helps.

It is a way to make Flutherers feel warm and accepted.

Seeing that number next to my name climb higher and higher encourages me to keep answering questions. It’s all about the ego.

I’m beginning to understand the subtle conditioning factor the founders of Fluther have discovered: freely distribute worthless points to people to reward them for answers, and after a while, they’ll start to believe the points are worth accumulating. Then they’ll keep producing content for your site.

I hope I don’t sound cynical above, because I don’t mean to; I actually think it’s quite clever.

Because it is always nice to acknowledge great answers or questions.

Without questions, there would be no starting point for answers. Good questions can generate more interesting responses and better responses. A lot of people don’t put in enough detail for people to provide anything other than the most general of responses. Some have argued that the questions are more important than the answers, and therefore should be encouraged by offering them more lurve (sorry—can’t find the link right now).

In any case, some people try really hard to compose questions that they think the community will really get into. They see this as a service to the community, although, technically speaking, it’s against the spirit of the place. We’re supposed to only ask questions we really want to know the answers to, and creating questions for the community (but not for yourself) is kind of like doing questions “on spec.” I’m not sure how many people do this kind of question asking, though.

Anyway, good questions should be encouraged, and lurving them does provide that encouragement. It is not so much fun here when people keep on asking boring and/or stupid questions. It’s not as much fun when different people ask the same questions that we’ve seen over and over.

Personally, I think that people who ask good questions should get more recognition, but then I’m probably biased. I’m one of those who tries to ask good questions. In any case, that’s my point of view. I’m sure others will have different opinions. They usually do.

As with most online forums, it provides users with a false sense of acceptance.

it’s just encouragement.

It should be the other way around, imho. It’s really hard to come up with a good question, and it should be worth tons of lurve when you finally do. A great answer, on the other hand, isn’t such a big deal.

It’s not important.

You could spend your entire Fluther career not giving lurve and none would be the wiser.

That is why the giving of lurve is kept anonymous.

because i trade ‘em in for a fishin’ kit!

Karma. Failure to acknowledge Great Questions/Answers is bad ju-ju. You’ve been warned.

@drdoombot I agree with you. I alternate between being irritated to being in slight awe of Bendrew for being able to find a way to boost our egos like this.

So people who are good at answering questions and helping people will continue to do so, even if there isn’t much in it for them other than karma. And it makes people feel good, so why not?

It’s just part of how this community works. Trust me….you’ll start checking for GA’s on your posts, and it’ll become something you start looking forward too. Also, it becomes kind of a voting thing. Some one has a problem, you can see how many people weigh in on a particular solution that is suggested. Plus you get points and THEN you get a party and I want a party so OK, everyone. GA this post please! (I’m shameless, I know!)

@Val123 You owe me one…!

@SABOTEUR Paid in full!!

Elementary my dear flutherites. That is the wisdom of the Creator of fluther

Good posts are reinforced, encourages us and rewards us, we try harder and post more, thereby increasing traffic. We provide our own reinforcement while we work for free. I couldn’t have designed it better myself.

Apparently not.