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If there is an item (web-link or document or image) that you use very frequently or find very useful, should you 'star' it (as in Gmail) or 'favorite' it? Are 'marking as starred', 'liking' and 'adding to favorites' similar?

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closed as not constructive by Benny Skogberg, JohnGB, JonW♦ Mar 20 at 17:21

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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

'star' 'exclamation mark' 'light bulb' 'tag' icons could work - depends on what you want

Liking, Starring, and Adding to favorites are really different

  • Like - is mainly sharing, and saying thanks
  • Starring - is marking something for yourself for future findability
  • Adding to favorites - means that you like something and you want to return there regularly

I would also add 'tag'-ing (like in delicious)

  • I usually 'tag' bunch of things with my account, because I found tham really useful in a given topic, and maybe it will be very useful again (or I can send it to somebody else if asked)
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@Roland- I agree with your point on 'liking' as a means of sharing. So is it right to say that, it can be taken an indicator of popularity? Also from what I interpret, 'adding to favorites' combines both 'liking' and 'starring'. What do you think? – Kartik G Feb 2 '11 at 10:12
Yes liking is related to popularity, and adding to favorites combines like+starring but without tagging :) – Roland Pokornyik Feb 2 '11 at 14:25
up vote 6 down vote
  • "Star" I've seen in multiple places, it's ok even though the verbing weirds me out.
  • "Like!" is a good choice for a social app, free of grammatic pains.
  • with "favorite" I'd stick with "Add to favorites".

Alternatively, When you have a volatile list, and want to make favorites sticky, a pin is a common methaphor:
enter image description here

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