I can see the points for and against it, one reason for it is something that hasn't been mentioned but probably happens a lot...you open a thread with many replies already there but you can't think of a reply that isn't virtually copying what someone else or many someone's has already said so there seems almost no point in posting an identical comment.
Many moons ago I ran a small Zetaboards (Doesn't exist now) forum and searched for coding to add a like button, the only code I could find included a dislike button, which I didn't want, so I did a sneaky minor modification to effectively eradicate the dislike button. What I found was the like button got used and comments were still posted by those who prefer the written word over a click, or those who had something to add and embellish on the topic, the like button did not render the thread stale.
There are threads where a like button would be very useful, such as the portrait thread where simply clicking a like button could leave the thread content as just the posted photos. I often want to show that I like a photo without spamming that thread with comments.
On the flip side, you can't tell from a click of a like button whether someone actually likes your content or comment, or are just being nice to everyone, and there could be times when someone doesn't get any like clicks and feels as bad as when they recieve few or no comments. A dislike button could also be abused if a member spits out his/her dummy for whatever reason and decides to dislike everything someone posts, I've seen that happen too.
There are other changes I would like to see besides a possible like button...
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