Link click badges

Development

AI-generated summary

The discussion revolves around the link click badges feature, which displays the number of clicks on links within a page. gar1t is unfamiliar with this feature, finds it distracting, and is considering disabling or hiding it with CSS. awesomerobot explains that the feature is intended to be “mildly interesting” and can provide insights into popular links. They also share that the badges can be hidden with CSS using a specific code block.

codinghorror questions the purpose of posting links that no one clicks, and awesomerobot responds that some people enjoy earning badges, implying that the click count can be a motivator for engagement.

1

What is the rationale for the incrementing count next to links in a page? I’m not asking in a challenging way. This looks odd but interesting. Why keep track of this?

As it’s unfamiliar to me, I’m finding myself distracted by these numbers. Why are they there? What are they telling me? As I ponder these questions, I remind myself to read the content and ignore the numbers.

I think I might like to disable this behavior, if that’s possible. If it’s not I’m tempted to hide these badges with CSS. Before I get too worked up over it, I’d like to better understand what value folks get from these?

2

I don’t think the rationale goes much further than “mildly interesting.”

We highlight a user’s most popular links on their profile as a related point of interest and there are some admin reports that can show related details… like which users have posted the most clicked links. What you get out of those pieces of information is up to you!

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They can be hidden with CSS.

.topic-body .badge-notification.clicks { 
  display: none; 
}
3

What is the purpose of posting a link that no one clicks?

4

:trophy: also some people like earning badges

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