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Helpful Answer vs Likes – What’s the Difference?

CommunityAdmin
Community Manager
Community Manager
1 19 407

I’ve noticed that there might some confusion to the purpose of Helpful Answer and Like when participating in Discussions, Documents, Questions, and Blogs. On Discussions, Documents, and Questions, you can “like” a response or mark it as “helpful.”  On blog posts, only “likes” are available.  

You may ask yourself, ”What’s the difference?” or “When should I use which one?” This post will give you some guidance.  

Marking a response as “helpful” indicates what responses or documents are helpful or not helpful. “Liking” a response means you valued or appreciated, or in some cases feel the same way, as the author of that response.  In the case of Questions, the Community can help vote which responses are most helpful.     

Why Marking a Response as Helpful Matters 

Jive is an advanced community platform and has a recommender algorithm that suggests relevant content when you’re viewing other content. It also uses algorithms to provide more relevant search results. These algorithms are based in part on how many times a response has been marked as helpful by different members of the EX Community. For these reasons, you should use “Helpful Answer” sparingly.  Use it only when you’ve found that member’s contribution actually helpful! Otherwise, the value of helpful answers is diluted.  

Why Liking a Response Matters 

The EX Community thrives on the interactions and relationships between members. Liking someone’s response is an easy way to show that you found that response engaging, useful, funny, or maybe just that you feel the same way, or empathize with the author. It can be akin to saying “Me, too!” or “I feel the same way!” Liking other people’s responses lets them know that other Community members read and value their contribution. 

What Happens When You Mark a Response as Helpful vs When You Like a Response 

When an answer is marked helpful, an email and Inbox notification is sent out to everyone subscribed to the document, discussion or question. When you like a response, however, only the person who originally wrote that response gets notified in their Inbox. Before you interact with a response, consider who you want to notify: the author, or everyone who has participated on that thread! 

Any questions or comments about this? Leave it in the comments below! 

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About the Author
This account is run by a team of EX Community Administrators. It's an honor and a privilege to help the members of this community each and every day. We love the mix of people here getting support and giving it to others. You're all something to someone. We are inspired by the many, many amazing people who come here to help others.