Hi A/O:

I think I have it all figured out! If the news or the content makes me happy, I vote "thumbs up" for it. If it makes me sad or mad, I vote "thumbs down." Don't worry, but voting "thumbs down" to a brilliantly-written piece of bad news, you are not discrediting it. The website's measurement index for popularity does not lie in its number of "thumbs up," but in the total number of "thumbs up" and "thumbs down." Vote freely and often!

The only way to prevent the confusion is to have a third option called "Shoot the messenger."  :)

See I voted up for all three (AO, Nazy and MM) as my thumbs up or down will be for the content or relevance important to me.

If I agree or like the content, it will get a thumbs up.

MM suggestion, sadly, is needed for few who vote their likes or dislikes based on who is delivering the message not the message itself.  COP had a discussion about this just a few days ago.

Mehrdad

I like Nazy's reasoning very much:

>The website's measurement index for popularity does not lie in its number of

>"thumbs up," but in the total number of "thumbs up" and "thumbs down."

At least for me, a post that indicates a high sum of ups and downs gives me more reason to want to view it. I look at Like + Dislike as arosing my interest. The motive behind the Likers and Dislikers is not important to me. If I want to know their motive, I'll read comments. Hopefully, they post something in the comment section.