How we will address reactions going foward

[Jeric 46,850]

That vague title should be perfect enough to suck in everyone. So this will be unlike a lot of announcements on changes to how we manage a rule. We aren't looking for feedback here. This only really impacts a handful of people anyway. In the past we have gone back and forth on reactions because some use them to poke another user needlessly. We used to have a "crazy" reactions but that was basically used to react to people others didn't like. The main people who complained then were those who actually made it an issue. Since then the laugh reaction started to be used in its stead. 

If someone posts something you disagree with, it is usually a good idea to not use the reactions to make your point. Use the reply feature instead. Or do what every other internet user does and think to yourself how smart you are in comparison. And yes, before people start going, "But how do you know what I was feeling?" ... it takes a few clicks to easily figure that out since your history with the individual is fairly public, as is your views on the subject matter. That line of reasoning didn't work when you were 10, and it doesn't work here. It's common sense. If you were face to face at a protest, you wearing a Biden shirt, and the other guy was wearing a MAGA hat but had a funny sign, you wouldn't just walk up to him and laugh in his face and expect him to know you were laughing at the sign. Same concept here. I trust that I don't need to walk you, the reader, how to use the forum to say, "Okay I disagree with everything you said, but that crack about Biden actually made me laugh."

 

I'm going to have the laugh reaction put back. Most people use it for the intended purpose. I'm done penalizing the community because of a few people. If you are one of those individuals and you continue to use the reactions as a stand-in for a down vote, it will be considered abuse. However, instead of a warning, you will likely get a reminder from staff in your inbox to stop. If you do it again, you will find that your ability to give and receive reactions will be removed until you commit to using them as intended. 

 

Note that emoticons and reactions are NOT the same. I'm not going to really get on someone who is actually passive aggressive about some things and uses emotes along with text. This isn't a call to action for the sensitive types here to report people they don't like for using reactions and emotes. If I have to jump through logical hoops to see the same thing you see, it certainly isn't something that needs staff to be involved in. Okay, I think that is it.