:)

Hasn't this been suggested before? I think it led to a huge debate... ;-)

I like Facebook but I do agree with you about the IOSH forum. It is a professional forum and should remain so. Not sure if your comment is tongue in cheek? Just in case you are serious, I should point out that I am not hoping for the site to be like facebook - just suggesting a 'like' button.

Buzz, Yes slightly toungue in cheek, but I think I prefer actual posts even if they are repating advice that others have already posted; many heads and all that.

Yes an edit post function would be most useful to those of us who forget to use the spell check.

quote=m] Seriously though I like the current professionalism of the site and can do without the OMG and ROFL that is proliferating elsewhere. Whatever next!

Oh my God, roll on floor laughing. Also you may see RTFM for read the manual, when a poster asks a question that they could have found the answer to in the manual. Add to that LOL laugh out loud which has evolved to lollage for something that is very funny. Older than Andy but have a teenage son so I need to understand this new lingo!

hhmmm... It was only a little idea. Not a big deal. I respect people's concerns about the risk of dumbing down the forum. However, I am still not convinced that having a 'like' button would do this. My experience of facebook is that when someone posts something on their wall, a few clicks of a like button do not seem to prevent a flurry of narrative comments as well. In response to SP900308, like the phrase! I know, why don't we condense your phrase. We could call it a 'like' button! ;-) OMG, After Motorheads post, I am so tempted to end with a LOL! ;-). But I don't feel comfortable doing that - I leave that kind text speak to my teenage son.

How about a generic reply button, with such choices as: a) Do a Risk Assessment b) Yes c) No d) Legislation cut and paste (could be a link) e) I'm going ignore what you ask and give you advice you didn't ask for Or is that just me being cynical on this wet Thursday afternoon.... :P

I could have sworn it is Thursday today but I must have overslept as this is obviously a Friday thread! LOL LB

Think I'm going to adopt option 'A' and start using the acronym 'DARA' in lieu of a button.

As Tigers might have been jesting with the reference to Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD) I googled it and found plenty of websites which describe how Facebook and similar so-called 'social' networking sites can be highly addictive for some people. This information ties with a newspaper article several weeks ago which described how some people suffer significantly impaired sleep because their laptops and mobiles are permanently set to sound an alert each time someone sends a message to them on Facebook and similar sites. Thus, as a significant proportion of such addicts will be employees, drivers, etc., this phenomenon probably poses a serious threat to the health, safety and wellbeing of such people and others likely to be affected by them while at work, on the roads or elsewhere. Some forum users may recall a variant of the problem in a forum topic earlier this year about a company which found that 4 of its travelling employees had been using Facebook while driving. For many years some employers have offered appropriate support to their employees, irrespective of position, regarding alcohol problems. Do any forum users know of employers which now offer similar support to employees with the aim of tackling their addiction to social networks? It might seem strange to some folk but some of us, myself included, have never ever seen Facebook, Twitter (its very name aptly describes itself and its users) or similar websites, and prefer a real life, i.e. with real activities and real people! The more I read and hear about what is on Facebook, etc. the more I reckon that I am probably not missing anything worthwhile! Another provocative thought: Do "super" users of this forum warrant help for IDFAD, alias IOSH Discussion Forum Addiction Disorder?!! Better stop for now and light the metaphorical blue touch paper in submitting this reply.

Why don't we have a rate buttin where we can give someone +1 or -1 if we like the post. Err no thought not, we might as well have a sycophant thread... Having a like would be awful, i help moderate a very large Football forum and things like this have been tried and are. 1) A pain in the neck 2) Worthless etc etc

although my initial comments were made a little tongue in cheek, I did see thr article. In reality I have witnessed (albeit not in my workplace) a total meltdown in an office of younger people where Facebook became king. It took quite a while to disentangle the plot, sub plots and try to install damage limitation. I also heard that had also been used for bullying in within another workplace, where management thought they were "safe" to make derogatory comments outside the work environment.

Still in top ten clubs for turnover in the world. In top four of shirt sales in world behind Man U / Real Madrid / Barcelona. Nah just a small club... On a serious note though, we did trial on the site a 'rate' button but found it to be open to abuse and anyone not liked by a few people would be rated down on every post. Severe waste of time ;)

BuzzLightyear, I can't see what value it would add to this forum. Each thread stimulates (in most cases anyway) a response. The majority of which warrant a considered response. As professionals, we like to support our views with information, statistics or justification to our stance. None of which would be achievable through a 'like' button!? Maybe I'm missing something, then again, I too have never engaged on Facebook, twitter etc. I cringe when the Nintendo DS adverts come on 'endorsed' by Parents 'my Johnny loves to paint, so we got him a painting game for the DS.' Alternatively, get him a paint brush and some fresh air!!

Buzz, nah, some of us probably don't even want to be liked :-) And anyway it would only lead "to infinity and beyond". p48

Max - to answer your question above, I wasn't really joking. Some or many employers apparently regard alcohol addiction as an illness and therefore deal with alcoholic employees, irrespective of status, on that basis Therefore, there could be an equivalent argument for dealing likewise with employees who are being adversely affected by addiction to social networking sites. I'm far from expert on such matters and simply raising them as topics for consideration and discussion on this forum. As for employers blocking access to social networking sites, it seems that many employers already do so. However, such blocks can only be applied to equipment provided by such employers for use by their employees, and not to devices personally owned by employees, but used during work time. By contrast it seems that many schools have a standard policy by which teachers can confiscate mobiles and similar devices from pupils if they are SEEN in use during lessons and perhaps inside school buildings. There is good reason for this - partly to try and prevent pupils from allowing their education to be distracted by using such devices for texting and accessing the internet, etc. An equally valid reason is that such devices can be used to take photos or video clips of school staff and also other pupils for subsequent misuse. This ties in with the comment by Tigers about Facebook being used for bullying. There have been various instances of web pages about school employees being set up maliciously by pupils and even parents on so-called "social" networking websites. As can be seen from various webpages like the one at http://www.equalitylaw.c...chers-on-rise-says-poll/ headteachers are often among the targets for malicious postings. p.s. To end on a jocular note, partly in deference to today being Friday for forum frivolity, I admit to misguessing for quite a while that LOL meant 'lots of love'. Perhaps it's a viable alternative to 'laugh out loud'. However, I'm still unsure whether people who use LOL are stating that whatever they are writing about has caused them to laugh audibly and/or expect readers to be amused by what they have written.