I like the reactions, and enjoy the option to do a “clapping hands” or the very rare “confetti ball.”
But I don’t know enough about the Discourse platform to say if this is universal, or can be tweaked.
In nuce, it seems there’s not a perfect bijection between reactions and the standard “heart” symbol. I’m going to leave it at that, and not make a truth table of what, when, and so forth.
Rather, it seems to me that it’s all over the place, and certain reactions are hidden from me, although I’ve received them.
I just think the integration between the more “advanced” reactions and the simple “heart” is not quite there yet.
Anyone else notice the imperfection there?
IOW, certain “reactions” show up as “heart” and “applause” and whatever, but the server-side tracking is not so much adept.
I propose, if possible, obviating the old “heart/noheart” system and moving ahead to the multi-level “reaction” system.
I find sometimes I hit the heart not quite right, so it pops up the reaction options, and I accidentally hit an unintended reaction while scrolling. So, if anyone got a confusing reaction, sorry!
I try not to read too much into any reaction I get.
I know, and I’ve adjusted when I catch them. There’s a bit of psychology involved with selecting a reaction. Funny but aw-worthy post? Hug or laugh?? Too many and yet too few choices!
Agreed! I lean toward too few. It seems a gross oversight that the “mind blown”/exploding head isn’t one of them. Ideally we could pick from the same pool available for message composition. Or, if the current selection of seven is non-negotiable, at least let us each pick the seven we want.
The Likes and Reactions here are pointless. Folks running their clicks up for whatever reasons, badges, etc… have made them meaningless at least to the folks receiving them. So yeah, don’t take them for anything.
For folks who want to give sincere reactions, they have some meaning. That’s why the threadians in here are worried about them. Reactions don’t seem to count toward badges, (other than the first reaction you do) so, surely, nobody is mass reacting.
I don’t think there are enough badge hungry folks on here to render likes meaningless to the receivers. But if any are suspected of such activities, there’s a preference line to stop being notified when specified users do things. Then you’d only see notifications from folks you think are clicking the like button sincerely.
But, as life advice goes, sure, don’t get a big head because of your shiny Admired badge. Oh. It is just sooo pretty. Isn’t it? Nice Admired badge. Lovely admired badge.
Oh. ahem. uh. One good thing about the Regular status is that it doesn’t require loads of likes to get. Just 30 in the last 100 days. So, nobody, can game the system that way and annoy everyone. Reading 25% of everything is the biggest requirement.
Reactions are great, but please remember that for each one, somewhere there was an equal and opposite action.
More seriously for a minute (and please don’t call me Shirley), they are useful when someone posts a point I agree with or that makes me chuckle and I don’t have anything meaningful to add in reply. A forum full of “+1”, “LOL” and “I concur” posts would get very old very quickly.
Yeah. I’m honestly not sure what I was trying to say in the OP: I was pretty drunk at the time, but don’t tell anyone!
There do seem to be a few glitches in the way reactions are presented to at least me, on various posts of mine: occasionally the actual reaction is obscured. I can see that someone reacted, but not the actual imagelet/emoji itself. It’s pretty rare, though.
Never thought about people going for badges, though…it doesn’t bother me if individuals do a brigade-style set of likes. After all, I’m “empathetic”! FWIW, I only give likes or reactions to things in an honest way, but I don’t see the harm in others doing it according to their own whims.
For me, the only status that really matters is the “regular” status. Not really sure why, but I just like seeing it next to my handle! And I’m here often enough reading threads that I don’t think I’ll be losing it anytime soon.
I’ll admit. I don’t use them. I don’t use the other options on Facebook, either. I’m too lazy. I do the heart when I like the post. That’s it. I don’t think about badges or anything like that.
If the reactions disappeared again tomorrow I’d be fine with that. The heart/like is plenty, it’s worked wonderfully since the beginning. But I am slowly adapting to the reactions, because they do allow for a little bit of extra nuance from time to time.
This happens with thumbs up, which is the one I’d probably use more often, if people could actually see it.
The open mouth one baffles me, because it looks like something you’d use if someone said something shocking or jaw-dropping astonishing. And I receive it frequently, and for the most vanilla posts.
Like, I might write…
“Today I ate a peanut butter sandwich”
and I get…
what the heck does that thing signify, what does it mean? Is peanut butter on bread outlandish? Are you of the “potatoes are what we eat” clan, and suggesting alternate lunchtime fare is “mind blown” material?
“Today I wore black socks”
“Today I saw a bird”
“Today I put gas in the car”
I’m very confused and need an explanation. Why are you opening your virtual mouths at me?
I’m pretty sure the thumbs up mini-emoji is the one that doesn’t show up for me. Don’t know why, but I like the thumbs up, because while I rarely have a feces-eating grin on my face IRL, I give the thumbs up all the time.
I like the open mouth one: anywhere from “mind=blown” to “holy ess that sucks!” Maybe “noteworthy, with empathy” is a good name for that one.
And FTR, if I give a laughing like a jackwagon emoji or whatever, it’s also on an indivisible-by-the-natural-numbers continuum, from literally LOL to “shucks, that’s pretty darned good!”
Now we get into the murky waters of “genuine reaction” (a Tyrannosaurus Rex is mowing my lawn! ) versus “ironic reaction” (I have just woke up, got out of bed, and dragged a comb across my head )
FWIW, I only give likes or reactions to things in an honest way, but I don’t see the harm in others doing it according to their own whims.
) versus “ironic reaction” (I have just woke up, got out of bed, and dragged a comb across my head