Should not "unread" count not disappear until I open the unread things?

Feature
1

So, talking about my profile picture at the top.

Assume I have 7 unread updates and number (7) is shown in a blue circle. As soon as I click my profile image, the blue circle disappears. But wait… I have not read any of the 7 yet, and there is nothing on the screen anymore that attracts my attention and asks me to read 7 unread updates.

I suspect this decreases the inattentiveness.

In the standard forum engines, when I have an unread message, it would say Unread (7).

  • If I open the list of the unread messages, but read none of them, the menu text stays Unread (7).
  • If I open one of the unread messages, it becomes Unread (6).
  • If I open all 7 of the unread messages, only then it becomes Unread (empty) or No unread or something like that.

So, do you consider this part functionality of old-school forums is bad?

What are the reasons to hide the unread number entirely after just viewing the list of them (often incomplete if there is little space in the popup), not reading them?

I would prefer the unread counter be at a glance and always visible. I think it is motivating to interact with the forum - to read all of the unread items, and that increases chances for answering some of them sooner than later.

Hiding the counter so quickly and effortlessly only makes the forum look more silent and died, especially with few users registered. So, if you disagree with the concept described above, would you consider at least making it configurable in Settings?

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