[Motorola Droid RAZR] Ohmster:
How to use the Thanks button and what is it for, anyway?

...or, everything you wanted to know about the Thanks Button and more. It has nothing to do with roms or phones so those short on time or patience, please skip this post. Thank you!​

This mini "How-To" was written primarily for newbies, Senior Members already know this or at least, they should. I did not learn how to use it for almost a year.

Q: What is that Thanks Button to the left of everyone's post?

A: The Thanks Button is a system of reward for a post that is well done and you personally feel helped you or others and was very well done. It does not "cost you anything" to press this button, show your appreciation, and you WILL make a permanent mark on the contributing Member's record and status as being "helpful".

Q: How do I use it and when should I use it?

If you ask a question and another member takes the time to answer you in a meaningful and helpful way, i.e.: "They helped you personally", you would tap the Thanks button. It looks like this:

Q: Okay, I get what it looks like, why tap this button if I say "Thank You" in my reply?

A: Because, saying "Thank You" is a very sincere way to thank someone for helping you here. But it does nothing to promote their board status. You see in the above picture that every member has a status such as Senior Member. They have a Post count AND a Thanks count. When you tap the Thanks Button, you alone are personally raising that member's Thanks count. That is a nice way of saying "Thanks" without having to dig in your wallet or going out of your way.

Q: Do other boards use this system and isn't this the same thing as a "Like Button" on Facebook?

A: Yes, other boards use this feature but XDA has taken this to a new level. Never have I seen the Thanks Button used so successfully before. NO, it is not the same as a Facebook Like button. Since Facebook is now a publicly owned company, the bottom line now comes before the people it was built to serve. When you "Like" anyone or worse yet, any commercial company like Jell-O, saying "I Like Jell-O", you now give the Kraft Foods Company the right to use your name, face, and endorsement of their product as though you signed a release for it. Ordinarily, a company like Kraft Foods would have to pay you for the endorsement, by clicking "Like" on Facebook, you have already given your consent for free. Even if your endorsement went "viral" because you made a funny video with your kids or pets, Kraft Foods can now use that for their own financial gain and does not have to pay you a dime. They are "exploiting you" and taking advantage of your ignorance. I only Like friends, not corporations for this very reason on Facebook. It is in that fine print that nobody reads you must agree to when you join Facebook.

Q: Why do you use the Thanks Button, Ohmster, and how does it work for you?

A: Good question and I like it. I will tell you a short story of how I see this and what it means to me.

When I was in elementary school, kindergarten to 5th grade, my teachers would purchase cheap, "stick and lick" stars from the stationary store. Anytime a student got an A or a B on a test, or for ANY exemplary action they took, the teacher would call that pupil to the front of the class, give them recognition for the grade, and stick a gold star for an A and a silver star for a B on their shirts. For the rest of the day, that student wore his star with pride. Other students wanted it, and he felt good for earning it. This positive reinforcement tactic made students "want to do better", if for nothing more than another star. Since the stars had no monetary value, the teachers could afford, out of their own pocket, to give these out as an incentive to good students to perform at their best level and it worked.

As it turns out, adults also crave this recognition, even if they will not admit it, and they see the reward reflected in their profile status. You get 6 "Thank Yous" to use per day. They do not cost you anything, or come out of your lunch money. So you can freely give them out to people that you feel earned them. Some members include "If my post helped you in any way, please tap the Thank You button for my post". It means *that* much to them. I personally did this and took it too far. I used a bold red font, and chose one size larger for it. I didn't realize it would be SO bold and glaring, that it overpowered the post itself and man, did I ever get scolded by the group for it when one member complained and over a dozen others jumped in to "Thank Him" for putting me in my place. I took it down, could have just made it small and brief, then apologized to the member who complained in a PM and promised to "Fix It".

Honestly I was really pissed at this member for doing this to me, but he was right, and I set my feelings aside and did the right thing. The other members saw the change and embraced me once again. Hey man, sometimes you have to admit when you are wrong and suck it up. I am very glad I did.

Q: Thanks for clearing that up, Ohmster. Now do we have to "Thank You" for saying this?

Not, at all. This is just a mini how-to, one of the things that would have helped me almost a year ago until I learned about it. I did not personally help you with your phone in this post, and NO ONE is ever "obligated" to say "Thank You". It is an option that you have to use when you feel the situation warrants it. I took the time to write this because a LOT of members are seniors, have helped many, have a Post Count in the hundreds or even thousand, and have very few Thanks to show for it. People don't know about it, they forget to use it, and because it is a "free" way to express your gratitude, it is a real shame that not enough people use it. Make no mistake, almost ALL senior members know this, use it, and are free to use it at will. But many do not, and that is a shame, with all the hundreds of posts they made, all the people they helped, these members never get the recognition they earned because of it.

The point of this post is to raise awareness of it, NOT to ask for it myself. No one has the right to "Request a Thank You", that is something earned and if warranted, given freely. I would like to see more people use this system for the benefit of those it would really help. Like Jake. He works his butt off, installing new builds, testing them, reporting on them diligently, and answering questions whenever he can. Jake never asks for anything, his efforts are sincere. He is asking for promotion to one of "the dirty jobs" as board administrator. It is a lot of work to monitor the board, move questions to the appropriate forum, and keep things like the title of the thread, current, like this one, (M2 Snapshot Available). We are *way* past that, he wants to do it, but the board administration won't give it to him, yet. Not even RC (Recognized Contributor) so he has to prove his "worthyness" by running his own Q&A thread to boost his stats. Tapping the Thanks button for someone like JakeDHS07, for one of the many times he really helped you, would make a *real* difference and allow him to move on to bigger and better things.

As usual, I am being loquacious again (Talk too much) and have to end this now. If this post helped even a few people understand the reward system at XDA, then it was worth it. Goodnight and happy romming! :laugh:

---------- Post added at 08:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 PM ----------

Yeah, OTA is proving it's worth and the servers are working overtime to meet the demand. Thanks for the tip and may I suggest a free MD5 checker if you find a file difficult to download, thus avoiding a bad file before trying it out. Good looking out! :highfive: