+1 for @mentions and notifications. Yes, you can subscribe to discussion threads, but getting notified when you're mentioned would be a great way to pull folks back into the conversation.
730843 exactly! The subscribe feature is great but you can end up swamped with emails that may or may not pertain to you as a student. Having an @mention with the same functionality as here would be 100% awesome.
I'm glad to see the beta environment has "Likes" in the discussion forum. I think it's a great addition and hopefully we can get some traction during this voting period to get @mentions.
Just the other day I had 2 separate instructors come to me to ask if there was an easier way to organize discussions that have multiple threads and replies. Even as a student it can be confusing, and it in a way forces me to troll the forums daily just to be sure I don't miss something.
We just signed a contract this month with Canvas for a district of 10,000 students. All of the teachers who tried the product asked the question, "Where's the +mention or @mention feature?" They are used to Twitter and/or Google+, and they have developed some strategies for organically created sub-conversations within discussions in which this feature supports. I'm glad likes will be coming soon before the rest of the staff are trained. However, I'm a little nervous to go back to them and say, "I'm sorry, but you can't do this in Canvas." Hopefully I can get more of them on this community and get them voting!
Totally agree 730843! This personalizes the conversation a little more and increases participation. There is a reason it is effective in social media applications, and none of them can be taken seriously until this feature exists.