Why do people "like" a story...

SaddleRider

Virgin
Joined
Apr 23, 2016
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Only to, usually the same day, unlike it, but always within 24 hours?

Every story posted. "Liked," then almost instantly "unliked." Every time.

Is this gaming the ratings somehow in some way that I don't understand?
 
Only to, usually the same day, unlike it, but always within 24 hours?

Every story posted. "Liked," then almost instantly "unliked." Every time.

Is this gaming the ratings somehow in some way that I don't understand?

I tend to like everything by Clive Cussler.
 
Some people use the 'Like' function as a bookmark to come back to read it later particularly if it is a long story.
 
Some people use the 'Like' function as a bookmark to come back to read it later particularly if it is a long story.

I'm going to agree with this comment. That's why I use it the same way. I unlike it once I've read it all the way through. No since in keeping my favorites cluttered with stories I have read once I have other things in there I haven't read just yet.
 
I'm going to agree with this comment. That's why I use it the same way. I unlike it once I've read it all the way through. No since in keeping my favorites cluttered with stories I have read once I have other things in there I haven't read just yet.

This is what I have often assumed must be going on for some readers. I used to be quite puzzled by it when I would check the "recent activity" on my submission panel until I saw several readers "like" part one of my story, then "unlike" it only to "like" part 2 next, and so on... After that, I just assumed that must be how some people use the function.

I try not to pay too much attention to it, but as a new writer, I can't resist monitoring the activity on my stories more often than I should. haha
 
I used to think people 'favorited' my stories because they showed promise, only to unlike them later because they weren't any good. It hurt my ego a bit to see all those broken hearts lined up like that.

Now I get why they use that function, although if I want to bookmark a Lit story for later I save it in my browser's bookmarks. Literally, and hit favorite if I think that story is worth reading again.
 
Now I get why they use that function, although if I want to bookmark a Lit story for later I save it in my browser's bookmarks. Literally, and hit favorite if I think that story is worth reading again.

I could see why some people wouldn't use bookmarks. Say you're using a family computer or a laptop you take with you to school/work? This isn't exactly a hobby I would want to share with everyone and with my luck that would certainly happen, although probably not on purpose. Like showing someone something on your laptop and opening the wrong bookmark folder for example... Better not to risk that. Not to mention that the autocomplete in the url bar of most browsers also uses your favorites, not just your history, so that could also show up some unwanted stuff when you or someone else starts typing the url of a website.

Sticking to the like/favorite feature seems a lot safer to me. Although maybe it would be useful to have a separate bookmark feature, which I think would benefit both writers and readers. That way readers can separate stories they're reading/want to read from their favorites, and the writer won't be confused by why stories get liked and then unliked.
 
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