I feel like a lot of the folks objecting to the kudos button do not remember the days of posting one’s fanfic to a mailing list, and then hoping for even a single one-line email response from the sub-200 people on the list. you didn’t even have a way of knowing if anyone READ it, let alone liked it, unless at least one person liked it ENOUGH to deal with sending email back. it was casting fanfic out into the void. (although a slightly less voidy void than zine days.)

because as someone who DOES remember those days, I adore the kudos button. It tells me someone liked the thing! it made it easier for them to tell me they liked the thing! hooray!