Thereâs been lots of chat about this already, but sometimes it helps to give a concrete example.
Here I mentioned a potential problem in Italy in the Italian category. I was reporting a potential problem there (potentially bad news). The reactions were one âthumbs upâ and one âangryâ.
Itâs reasonable to assume that the âthumbs upâ is a reaction to my post, not the underlying problem, but what about the âangryâ? Was that with me or with the problem that I reported?
Most of the others are similarly problematic. We have:
+1
âheartâ
âlaughingâ
âopen mouthâ
âcryâ
âangryâ
âhugsâ
âfrowning_faceâ
âstar_struckâ
Of those, â+1â makes sense and âfrowning_faceâ is probably the nearest that we have to a â-1â (even though it has no meaning in the site metrics). âlaughingâ is sometimes useful for âI get the jokeâ. Some people use âheartâ instead of â+1â; the rest, no so much.
Why donât you just ask whoever posted the âangryâ icon what they meant. Send them a direct message.
The fact that you are getting these shows who is engaging in what you are saying. That is better than nothing as it gives you an idea of who you could speak with if it wasnât clear in what they meant.
Summary: they add value and if any are not clear, just as the person who posted them. In time you will get more used to them and how individuals use them.
No, I donât want to do that, for a couple of reasons. One is that if that person hasnât posted elsewhere in the discussion itâs because they donât want to - thatâs a perfectly reasonable attitude to have, and life is too short to have detailed views on everything. The other is that in that example itâs a conversation across the language barrier, and automatic translation would struggle to get across âwhy are you angry?â without the nuance that Iâm just asking a question; Iâm not angry with them.
Ok thatâs fine but I note that lifeâs not too short to create this new topic. They add no value to you, they add value to other people. Conclusion: leave them in so others can take value from them and you just get used to ignoring them.
Yes, the system does not display more than max 3 different icons to the left ⊠I just kicked away the of another user ⊠⊠so this is proof enough that one should not take this stuff too serious imho âŠ
But unless Iâm missing something, you canât see who has responded to your post with only a emoticon?
e.g. on this post of mine: Community vector tile server?, it says that I have received 2 x âthumbs upâ, but I donât know who theyâve come from?
Itâs far from obvious - you have to click the âthree dotsâ below. Itâll show you some pictures, and if you hover your mouse over them itâll say who.
Iâm on mobile right now (Firefox). Tapping on the emojis brings up the full list of reactions along with the user icons. Clicking on a user takes you to their profile.
Maybe I witnessed something similar: A frowning face on a post of mine, that left me uncertain, whether it meant the message or the messenger. Lucky to learn that is has no influence on site metrics, glad there is not thumbs down that leaves the people clicking oblivious of what it applies to.
A frowning face on a post of mine, that left me uncertain, whether it meant the message or the messenger. Lucky to learn that is has no influence on site metrics, glad there is not thumbs down that leaves the people clicking oblivious of what it applies to.
is this a general remark against emojis or would you mind explaining why a thumbs down is different from a thumbs up in this respect?
At least in the desktop version, you can easily view the people who reacted with emojis (on the left) by hovering your mouse over them. As for likes specifically, if you click on the three-dot button (âshow moreâ), the content will expand, revealing the individuals who liked it.
At least in the desktop version, you can easily view the people who reacted with emojis (on the left) by hovering your mouse over them. As for likes specifically, if you click on the three-dot button (âshow moreâ), the content will expand, revealing the individuals who liked it.
it also works on mobile, tap on the icons and they will expand
In Firefox on Android, the thumbs-up symbol is set when I scroll through a topic with my finger. A selection of the icons as with the desktop computer with the mouseover does not show up. This is a bug in the forum software.
I know that with the thumbs up symbol, by touching and circular swiping, the other symbols appear for selection.
I would be hesitant about removing this feature. It may not add value for you, but reactions are part of the default way Discourse works. The pros of keeping reactions allow people to express themselves without them needing to post an entire message. The problem in your example is someone reacted with âangryâ, but they donât seem to have any other posts.
The possibility someone might use this reaction seems more like a symptom of OSM. Discussions surrounding vandalism and âodd editsâ sometimes feel confrontational because usually the person making the unwanted edits is either malicious or does so unwittingly. The vast majority of reactions are usually positive.
emoticon pushed out / removed 
by other user? Huh?
of another user ⊠
⊠so this is proof enough that one should not take this stuff too serious imho ⊠
