Maybe a page in the members tab bringing you to "Whats Popular" and a ordered list of links with previews or something along those lines (you elaborate here ) Ordered by Most likes per , post ,thread , Users with highest likes and toggles for which sections your interested in. I personally think it ties in nice with this threads idea.
If this is out of place sorry but this is where my brain went when i read this.
(sorry to keep editing)
Forgot to add I think this promotes posting good quality posts as it is easy to reference who got what and where