Don't worry - it's not a solitary phenomenon by any means...

None the wiser - elaborate.

They should change the background of the site first. Been like this forever and everyone hates it.

You can't circle jerk solo.

I believe the poster was using the term metaphorically.
I understand the literal meaning to refer to a circle of men pleasuring each other.
Whether clockwise or anticlockwise I'm not sure.
I think in theory you would need a minimum of three participants to constitute a circle jerk.
I imagine it originated in the armed forces.

No.

The whole point of discussion is that we discuss. Otherwise this place will become like practically everywhere else on the internet - i.e. the haunt of those with chronic short attention spans.

It hasn't always been like this. There used to be different colours for the different forums.
Wasn't showbiz pink at some point?

Completely agree. Dreadful idea. Polls have cut decent discussion by WAY more than enough already, a like button could finish it off entirely.

Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like
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How's than then? Enough?

no no no NO
The problem with a "like" or a thumbs up/down option is that it kills debate, I found this on a local newspapers web site, someone would make a comment and get 20 thumbs down and 4 thumbs up, and NO replies to what they had posted, this would happen all the time, and was damned frustrating, people (not everyone obviously) wouldn't engage in debate with you, they just hit the like or the thumbs/up down button and move on, makes for a very boring forum,
and people only want it because they are seeking approval from others for their views/opinions anyway, what does it matter what others think if you believe in your point? if they agree enough then they will say so, if they disagree then they have a choice either say why, or say nowt, none of that sneaky red arrow or thumbs down cowardice,

who agrees? ..........oops....

The 'like' and 'dislike' buttons don't add much to the debate for people who can't be bothered to type a post out. It's much better to see what people think about something than just them hitting a 'like' button.

Nooooo, it'll stop people from just talking.

*like*

No chance..the smilies have been mangled and gone all PC so they wont do this

Disagree 100%. It's an awful idea.

I'm a member of a football supporters' forum and the moderators converted to a "thumbs up/down" system, which has been a relative success. Problem is, most of the members who contribute on that site share a love of one particular football team, so there's more of a sense of camaraderie and less of this "repping for the sake of it" mentality. This forum is obviously a lot more diverse and so it may not work as well.

Newspaper comments sections, The Student Room and Youtube are all examples of sites that use the +1/-1 system. I'm not certain if it helps or hinders constructive discussion. If people are sensible enough to look beyond obvious cases of rep whoring, then it could be a useful feature to add. But then, in real life conversations, we don't have any of this sort of thing. If we agree with someone in the pub, we say "I agree", or something similar. No reason why the same can't happen on forums.

I only give positive hits on YouTube when I think I'd like to see the video again. I'll only thumbs down a video when an uploader has been an idiot in some way with the video.

I think Digitalspy should be more like the Daily Mail Website...

"Bring on the Red Arrows"

'Like' and 'dislike' buttons are for the brain dead who can't converse and so IMO we shouldn't have them here, it will end the point of the forum ie discussion.

OR, how about a middle finger button (or a 'V' smiley) to show our respect towards certain posts?

No as it encourages cliques and victimisation of posters who the cliques do not like.

I saw this on another forum - no matter what the quality of the post some people would get a like automatically from their chums (probably without the silly bastards/bitches even reading it).

*Like*

What I want to happen is for the Mods to make a tag box on every thread created just under all the posts where you can make mini posts regarding what the thread is about just like on the Popjustice forum, I think that would be cool!

For example:
Thread title
All the posts
Then the 'tags for this thread' box etc.

If the thread is about religion for example, people could post mini, funny things like:
not again! wum troll God does exist God does not exist


^^^ and stuff like that for example.

Zomfg that would be amazeballs lulz.

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......<ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL>.
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No thanks, and no avatars either. I can't stand avatars (especially animated ones ) or signatures.