The most common answer I see is something along the lines of “it’s the equivalent of liking a post on twitter”. It seems that this is not the case, as the Mastodon devs seem rather adamant that they don’t want “likes” in Mastodon. Perhaps it’s a method of saving posts? Well, that doesn’t make sense either, since there is already the ability to “Bookmark” a post to save it.
It really just seems like a “Favorite” is just a bookmark that tells the poster, and the public that you bookmarked the post. And even if this was the reasoning – which is baffling enough as it is – it wouldn’t make sense since the whole point of boosting something is to tell the public that you like a post.
It really seems like the “Favorite” button has no actual unique purpose. In my honest opinion, Mastodon should just federate “Likes” like normal, and be done with it.
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The issue is that favorites are a mastodon-specific thing. Mastodon does not federate actual “likes”. So, if mastodon users actually do want “likes”, then they should federate them the same as everyone else. The “favourite”, on it’s own, is otherwise pointless, and redundant.
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The person who made the post still sees all the likes.
This is part of my point though. Why make a separate “Like” feature that doesn’t integrate with the existing infrastructure for the exact same thing? If people are treating it as a “Like”, then why not actually make it a “Like”…?
The official purpose and the common purpose are not always in sync. That same style of question had been discussed with regards to the lemmy/reddit downvote. Officially, it de-prioritizes the post/comment in sorting due to being disruptive or unhelpful, but the common use is more tyically ‘I don’t agree with this statement’.
While I do completely agree with your point, the issue that I was pointing out in the post is that I’m not entirely sure what, exactly, the favorite button is supposed to accomplish – it seems to already have its functionality covered by other features.
Yeah, from what I’m reading over the git discussion it seems that the favorites are something like a private like verses a public counted vote. If I’m understanding it right it’s similar to when people on a lot of corporate chat like MS teams use a ‘thumbs up’ as kind of an all purpose aknowledgement/approval without actually responding.
The pupose of a Like button is to express that you like the post.
And even if this was the reasoning – which is baffling enough as it is
What is baffling about it? The function fulfills exactly the purpose that its name promises.
it wouldn’t make sense since the whole point of boosting something is to tell the public that you like a post.
With a boost, you pass the post to your followers. This is a different feature accordingly.
Like before Boost often seems useful, but hardly in case of bad news.
The pupose of a Like button is to express that you like the post.
As stated in my post, Mastodon officially does not federate “Likes”. So, to call it a “Like” makes little to no sense, to me. Why treat something as a “Like” if it isn’t actually a “Like”? And if the users do actually want to treat is as a “Like”, then why not just federate them like normal?
What is baffling about it? The function fulfills exactly the purpose that its name promises.
The functionality already exists through Boosts, and Bookmarks.
As stated in my post, Mastodon officially does not federate “Likes”. So, to call it a “Like” makes little to no sense, to me.
If someone from another instance likes your toot, you’ll get it. You don’t see likes of posts from other instances, but you’ll get every like for your posts from wherever they come from.
The functionality already exists through Boosts, and Bookmarks.
If I like a photo from a friend he made on his/her holiday, I send him/her a star. There’s no reason to share this picture with my followers, nor to bookmark it.
It’s a like button.
People overcomplicate this, but this is literally the use-case for it: You are letting a user know that you like their post. Boosts are the button to share a post with your followers. I’m not entirely sure how it’s pointless that you are letting someone know you liked their post, I love getting favourites on my posts on Mastodon, not everything is about virality.
it wouldn’t make sense since the whole point of boosting something is to tell the public that you like a post.
Regarding this, it does do this, but for users of your instance (since as you say, they are not federated). This does have an advantage actually, as the trending posts section of the Explore tab will show you posts that are primarily liked by people on your instance, which means if you’re part of an instance for a specific type of community, you will see more stuff related to your interests rather than “what everyone is liking.”
It’s a like button.
Officially, as stated in my post, it is not – Mastodon does not want “likes” on the platform.
You are letting a user know that you like their post.
If this was the actual desired functionality, then why not federate it? The infrastructure already exists, so why not use it? Why make something separate?
I’m not entirely sure how it’s pointless that you are letting someone know you liked their post
I’m not saying that “Likes” in general are pointless, I am specifically saying that the existance of a unique “Favorite” button makes no sense as it’s functionality is already covered by other features.
This does have an advantage actually, as the trending posts section of the Explore tab will show you posts that are primarily liked by people on your instance, which means if you’re part of an instance for a specific type of community, you will see more stuff related to your interests rather than “what everyone is liking.”
Why do you need a separate button for this? Is the metadata not already there in the ActivityPub protocol that shows what instance an actual like comes from? If so, just use that information.
Officially, as stated in my post, it is not – Mastodon does not want “likes” on the platform.
Sorry, this doesn’t make sense. Even the link you post in the OP says it’s a like button (literally the first post by Gargron), it just doesn’t federate… I’m also not sure if you’re aware, but all likes federate to the server that the post is on, so the poster will see all likes they receive, it then just doesn’t federate further to everyone else looking at it.
It seems your hang up is that it’s called favourite, and making a bunch of assumptions because of this.
Personally I think they should be renamed likes because of situations like this.
I use mine as like a read notification or maybe I have nothing else to say.
