Good context! I appreciate the thoughts. I was honestly thinking about it from a data perspective. Imagine if we had both an Upvote and a Share button, for example. The upvote has no mojo with it. It's just a way to say, Yeah! or Right on! or Thanks for the conversation! While the Share button would be "hey everyone, this is super fascinating, and everyone that follows these tags, this post, or this person, should read it!" A couple weeks ago we had an interesting sub-thread in another conversation about what the hubwheel is "for", and I had the distinct feeling that people agreed it was not an Upvote, it was a Share. Judging from the amount of butthurt on this post, I'd say people have changed their minds!! :-)
I've paused more than once trying to decide if I was going to circledot a comment or a post, and working through the rationale of doing so. That doesn't happen with likes. I'd argue that the approve/like/share tension actually promotes thoughtfulness of interaction. Of course, this is the internet, so consequence is always both great and small, but the fact that we feel some is probably not a bad thing. I would expect a separate like button to moslty encourage mindless exercise. Funny thing, if I make a trite comment that is heavily spoked, I feel a bit guilty, and a solid contribution feels like atonement.
I have that same pause, and - with some insight gained from refugee's comments on my thoughts - I have made the decision to ONLY use the hubwheel to push a post to greater visibility, and go with an "I agree" comment, if I just wanna recognize a good point, but the point doesn't have standalone value outside the thread. It's so interesting to see how people use tools, when there is no manual...