Presumably in response to a Dec 2023 thread, the popcorn emoji was made available as an emoji reaction on this forum.[1] I’m proposing to remove it again. I’ll explain:
Emoji reactions in general, but the popcorn in particular, invite to ignore an argument.[2] It’s an invitation to not have any meaningful conversation. It just expresses “haha this will blow up, let’s see what happens” or “this is such a non-issue”.
Sure it may mean “fun” for people who agree that someone’s expression is controversial, but for the target, it is just way too likely to be stigmatising and hence traumatising, or else of raising the heat of the conversation. I speak from experience as someone who has been deeply traumatised in my life due to thinking in a different way from others, and who has had great trouble developing as a person because of that, and who is bearing the scars (and trying to heal them).[3]
To think that all others who have a point, will make that point in a way that you will readily understand, is an illusion. The idea that you are justified in making light of their experience if they can’t express themselves in a way that you can sympathize with without mental effort (thinking that your “gut reaction” about everyone is right), is deeply troubling.[4] In my view, it’s also one of the engines for polarisation issues.
So let’s not further this social regression in our nice community. Let’s instead focus on helping each other to create understanding. Not undermine it and damage people in the process.
I called it a bad idea at the time, and offered a concrete alternative: the emoji. ↩︎
I’m aware that there are complex dynamics such as silent majority, which emoji reactions can help mitigate, but does help with any such problem? ↩︎
I say this not because I want to (it’s actually uncomfortable) but because I think it helps to see where I’m coming from. I am not willing to give details about this matter online. Perhaps if we meet in person. ↩︎
I realize that in large communities like this, there are many people saying things everywhere: it’s not feasible to seek personal connection everywhere, in order to really understand someone. But that doesn’t mean we should devolve into just assuming we’re right. ↩︎
@SomeoneElse I see you’re reacting with an emoji. Could you perhaps share your take with words, so that we can have a chance at understanding what you mean?
OSM is fun and part of that is the community where when someone saids something out of pocket we can all tap a button to express we’re all going because we know it’s about to get multiple people typing. Removing part of the fun and whimsy of the community is not a move I support. I have not seen bad quality discussion follow a large use of . Is this really an issue?
I already replied to this: “Sure it may mean “fun” for people who agree that someone’s expression is controversial, but for the target, it is just way too likely to be stigmatising and hence traumatising”. I fully support to have fun and be quirky. But perhaps be mindful of what a quick click for you can mean for someone else.
The issue is not one you will see a lot of explicitly, since it will be people getting demotivated from participating.
So there’s not evidence that this is anything more than a little fun for the community? The issue is that it maybe someone sees an emoji popcorn and runs for the hills?
I used it a few times to express “this is a really controversial statement” where posting it as a text would be a pure useless noise.
And in some cases post deserved nothing more.
not really? It is rather to express “I have nothing really to add except to mark my agreement/disagreement”
can you give some examples of harmful use of that emoji?
If you look for evidence of people who have fled the forums, on the forums themselves, you won’t find many indeed. I know quite a few personally, though. For further evidence of the problems of the broader attitude (not just the emoji itself but the underlying thought), perhaps try to imagine what signal you’re currently sending to me? Not everyone is able to handle this at any time.
I’m not sure if I understand the traumatizing character of the reaction that you describe. It isn’t even explicitly showing disagreement - just that you think the post is going to cause a lot of discussion.
This emoji reaction only came after much deliberation, ostensibly with the caveat that it expresses dispassionate disapproval. The popcorn was still in its packaging by that point. Contrary to how I rationalized it, every I’ve received has stung more than every I’ve received.[1] That said, I can see how someone else might perceive the latter as a form of mockery, which would be unfortunate.
Anecdotally, I’ve noticed that this community also seems to be using in a more empathetic manner, similar to and : one user states some fact and the others use the emoji to share the user’s own sentiment about that fact, not its messenger. Does anyone know how to search this forum by emoji reaction, to get a better sense of how it’s being used?
The original post has a point that this forum is missing some more basic reactions that might lead people to reach for the popcorn a little less, such as . I’ve found myself wanting to reach for that reaction more than once and I see little reason not to add it.
No offense to those with drooping thumb syndrome. ↩︎
Thank you for bringing this up. Anybody who’s observed heated online discussions knows about “popcorn” as a shortcut for “drama,” a way to trivialize topics, and belittle anybody who dares speak up. I don’t know how the original troll proposal was ever taken seriously. It’s clear the proposer doesn’t take the OSM community seriously.
emoji. ↩︎
help with any such problem? ↩︎
for fear they’d be used negatively?
