One of the problems of online communication actually is a lack of "body language". The like/+1/etc adds that layer - a simple non-verbal equivalent of turning to face the conversation. In a way, this is actually "track" - but track is a word with a connotation of hiding and does not do the important bit - generate an indicator to everyone that the post/comment is being tracked.

I'm not sure there is a word that everyone would find appropriate for all journals, so what I'd like is for +1 as a default, and the option to turn it off per post or to default it off for all posts, and the word itself to be editable per post (as per current music metadata).

I am unsure if clicking it should also track - I think it should from an end user perspective, but there appear to be back end reasons why track needs limitations.

Hrm: alternately, change "track" to "watch" and change it to display a count of watchers (and list if clicked)?