Thanks. I do think there is an addictive and people pleasing nature to upbears, but even still, I think that the quality and quantity of interaction on longer posts wouldn't be changed. Me upvoting a silly meme doesn't make me any more or less likely to actually provide a thoughtful comment to something that catches my brain.

People can and should sort by new. I always read posts that have few upbears for that reason. I've never even considered that the number of upbears is a measure of the quality of a post. I see it, as you said, as a measure of how many people have read it. I always assume that I am getting to the party early. I never judge other posts by the upbeat number - but I do want a way to see the upbears on my posts to see if people have read them. Maybe part of the issue is with the way posts are ranked?

But, providing a thoughtful comment is still an amount of effort that is not necessarily accessible on large quantities. There is a maximum of comments and discussion possible. I think that there should be levels of engagement, and I share the concern of others in this thread that removal of upbear will lead to pages of "This!" "+1" "Well said" "Agree" etc. In the comments, which frankly would negatively affect the website experience.

I wouldn't be against trying the site out without upbears and seeing how it is. I don't know how the balance between casual interaction that provides acknowledgement of effort and removing the addictive nature would be incorporated.