I tend to use my likes very sparingly in this place. Though, with the ammount of good content i find, i end up using my likes more than i would on a platform like Facebook.
The reason i use them sparingly, is that, unlike facebook, where it has multiple different ways to express yourself with “Like” button, as such, with the reaction feature it has now, that the sparsity, means that i value the likes in here far more than i would in other places online.
I dont know that its young people doing this, but that does seem the sort of activity a younger person would engage in, collecting achivements, though, i dont see why age is nessisarily an issue. Im of the opinion, that reguardless who is doing this, it seems meaningless, and should be discouraged. Though, i would also say that because its a badge, its then inevitable that people will want to “Collect” said badge. Hell, i liked being a regular, because it was proof i was on these forums all the time. (No longer a regular, which makes me sad, but i dont need a title to have a valuale opinion on something).
But then, are we really going to have the sort of conversation where by we dictate what badges are ultimatly woth more, or what badges should be disapraged? As the OP’er said, its a small issue i think, and not one that can reasonably be policed at this time. Let them collect their badges, but they do so with the knowladge that people like me… are looking at them with mild irritation.
I am sorry for spamming on likes. I like till I hit my limit becuase I want to be at the top of the given likes if you click on the users button, but if it is not allowed I will stop doing it.