Yep. I'd posit that those of us who had an identity prior to our online identity have two separate identities, while those who grew up with the internet do not have a dividing line between their online and IRL selves. That's why they can react so poorly to online harassment and bullying; I'd just turn off the computer/phone for a couple of days. No biggie. Not being online isn't really an option for many of the people who are younger than me. This is the intent of the Thermometer thingie... a way to encourage good/healthy conversation participation, without gamification tainting the intent. In addition, the thermometer would have to be included by the poster using markup, so the poster would be asking for feedback on their participation. A setting in the user prefs could automatically include the thermometer in all your posts, or you could just use a markup tag - like maybe a tilde-bang-tilde - to have it added to a single post/comment you make. That way the commenter is specifically asking the community for feedback on their participation with THIS post. It invites feedback from the community. Perhaps it is in part because the digital aspect of identity is greater for people born in it?
Ideally, I would like to be able to indicate that I find the comment to be stimulating and constructive without implying whether I agree or not. I wish shares worked this way, but I think they do not.