If you strip away everything that makes a forum a forum… then it’s not a forum. It’s supposed to encourage participation. Online forums/bulletin boards have been built this way since the dawn of the internet.
You have no profile picture and your profile name is pretty much anonymous, but you post in the forum very regularly. Counterintuitive to what you just said. In fact, anonymity encourages participation…just the wrong kind.
Going to ignore the irony of you making an ad hominem attack from the comfortable pseudo-anonymity of your computer chair and respond in good faith.
No, if you strip away profiles you still have a forum, all of the interactions remain. If you strip away the interactions, then you have a directory. The interactions are fundamental to a forum, not the profile. Let me actually argue your point for you and point out the existence of 4chan (a forum without any profiles). This may seem contradictory to my original post but it’s not.
I specifically said “almost” here because there’s a 3rd reason for contributing, some people are too socially awkward for real life interaction and this is the only outlet for social interaction that they have.
I don’t think this applies to most of the users here, which is why I didn’t mention it. But my original point still stands. Likes, status, dopamine. It’s OK to admit that you enjoy the likes you got for your post.
Pretty sure my face and name is plain for all to see. Likes make me feel good for sure, not denying that. On the flipside, I give out likes to posts that I personally deem to be relevant and beneficial to the thread, or conversation, in the hopes that the starter of the thread will feel confident that the advise given is correct or otherwise. I believe that is true for most most people who give out likes here in the Bubble forum. If people feel good about receiving likes then they will be encouraged to continue to give good advice.
I can’t speak for 4chan since I hate it for the very reason you pointed out. Complete anonymity encourages bad behaviours.
People give out likes to posts that make them feel good or agree with their world view. Also, people give likes in hopes of receiving likes back in a different thread, again going to my point about status. My post was not an endorsement of 4chan, which I also detest, but rather an example of why this statement referring to profile pictures was wrong:
100%.
I didn’t start my forum profile with my image, I only added that after Bubble required a profile image for my Bootcamp Instructor Profile, so I thought, since I had to take the picture, I mind as well use it in more places. The badges mean nothing to me, and the idea that my name is part of my profile doesn’t encourage me to help other people.
Hahahahaha…that is an absurd generalization to make. I’ve never in my life been socially awkward.
This concept is what keeps people coming back to social media sites like Facebook, instagram etc. I do not believe it is why people who regularly contribute to the forum are coming back. For some of us on here regularly contributing to the forum, helping others, it is more akin to going down to the local soup kitchen and donating your time to feed the needy. Sure, there is gratification that comes from somebody smiling at you and saying thank you while you pass them a plate of food, and the sense of contribution to your community as you watch the crowds of strangers sit and eat together at community tables and the opportunities you have to sit and speak with others, however, I didn’t get a PhD in psychology to know if that gratification is a little hit of dopamine or not, so maybe, yes, dopamine is a part of it. Personally, I’d rather get my brain flooded with dopamine in other ways so I can really feel it, not by helping other people.
This may be true for some cases, but again an overgeneralization that certainly doesn’t apply to all and should not be used to try and paint a picture of why people contribute that is any different than what all the other respondents to the thread have indicated.
I can answer this for you, yes.
It’s multivariate, and I didn’t claim otherwise. If you want to get deep into altruism, you can study it on your own time:
I like your last post…hope you enjoy the dopamine shot 
I liked your last post too but in a pavlovian conditioning way. 
Not credits as such, but @lindsay_knowcode does give out stickers to good citizens
haha 
yes I do.
Yes I post (snail mail) super cool Bubble stickers to good Bubble citizens. (and to Good citizens organising Bubble meetups)
Rando is addicted to those small dopamin hits now! Keep it up Rando, people are liking what you are putting down my man.
The thing about getting likes is that it’s easy, staying humble is the hard part.
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