reply to post by Lolliek
For one stars and flags do not give you "rewards" so to speak(although it can be somewhat of a pride issue). Flags are used for members to alert a
thread that they feel is important so it does not get lost behind the other, less 'important' threads. The more flags means the more important our
community feel that particular thread is.
Stars on the other hand are a way for members to either agree with a post, show a "thank you" for a post or thread, or to giver their support for a
members post or thread in an anonymous manner. A lot of times flags and stars go hand in hand. For thread is in example; you will flag it because it
is important, but also star it because it is well presented. There are many, including me that may either flag or star, but not both a thread
depending on the situation. Stars have also been called "member applause".
The real "rewards" are staff applause, which come from mods or FSMEs. Those you get 500 points for and generally the more you have the more
respected you are amongst our peers. Especially with the "applause tag" in our profiles now. Really though the real reward should be the good
feeling of positively contributing to our great community, of course all the flags, stars, and applause make us feel nice, but in the end all that
matters is the intent and outcome of ones post or thread.
As far as the other questions in this thread they've already been answered, I just wanted to touch on the star and flag aspect.