Laugh reaction

I think it was nice to have it to laugh at funny and witty posts (and there are many on Mumsnet,) but as has been said, it was used to mock and ridicule. I put quite a few posts on where I was being serious/talking about something serious, or upsetting, or emotional, and sometimes someone would put a LMFAO 'reaction' emoji. It was cruel and nasty. And it was ALWAYS a 'new username' who did it. Not someone recognisable/someone who has at least 1000 posts/a username that has been registered for more than 6 months.

I miss it for being able to LOL at funny posts, but I am not sorry it's gone because it felt like a nasty and insidious personal attack when someone put a laughing 'reaction' emoji on your post.

Yes you can still do this on the thread >>> 😂 but everyone can see you laughing, mocking, and ridiculing someone who is putting a serious or emotionally charged post. No-one could see it when you put it 'secretly.'

People who think it's an 'overreaction,' and people are being OTT or 'over-sensitive' have clearly never had it done to them.

IMO

What an overreaction

And where's that laughing emoji when you need it? 😆😆😆

I'm glad it's gone. I was on a thread once where one poster was using it for multiple posters and then, when called out, made out she was the victim.
We can all disagree, all get wound up, all post something and then regret it but, if you do, at least do it out in the open.

I only used the laugh emoji once. The poster had posted something intentionally funny which made me laugh. I hovered over the emoji thinking she might think I was mocking her. That's how toxic it had become. Good riddance.

You’re raging?! I think you probably need to put the internet down for a while

But everyone will see that, rather than only the poster. That is a big difference.

FFS what has happened?@?! I am really raging now about the lack of laughing emoji options now!

Exactly.

It’s ridiculous isn’t it, so we can do a laughing emoji publicly in a sarcastic response to a post, why is that better?or are mumsnet going to ban all laughing emojis unless the post is actually funny?

I'm sorry it's gone. If someone is going to laugh mockingly at a post, they'll just quote it and add a laugh emoji for all to see, which is more likely to encourage a pile-on of similar.

Excellent. Thankyou for that.

@BeckyAMumsnet can you comment on alternatives such as making the laugh emoji public (with names)?

The reactions really did seem to reduce those long lines of posts simply saying “agree” or “haha”.

So do I. I was against stuff like that before it happened, that hasn't changed.

I'll use them rarely but it's not ruddy Facebook. There's no need for them.

Generally I don’t take any notice of the emojis. It’s the best way.

That’s kind of why I’m asking - people were complaining about it before it was even released and trialled. Perhaps making a self fulfilling prophecy?

TBH, if its simply because its more hassle than is worth moderating that does say something quite interesting about the site itself as a support site.

I would be interested to know why eg making the laugh emoji public (which would presumably solve the problem of hidden bullying) or restricting it to certain topics.

@C8H10N4O2 given that this was first raised as an issue some time ago now, I think it’s fair to say that MNHQ have probably been monitoring how it’s been being used. There was also a discussion some time ago about how to deal with posters who were misusing it, and MNHQ then posted that such misuse was against Talk Guidelines, and so those posters should be reported to them, and they’d be dealt with.

I’m guessing, therefore, that there has been sufficient misuse of the reaction that they felt it best to remove it.

(But maybe someone from MNHQ/ @BeckyAMumsnet can confirm that?)

👍

Good news

Nothing. People who want to use a laugh emoji can still use one. They've lost nothing at all. It's just anyone using it nastily will be seen by everyone doing so. They just won't be able to mock someone struggling in secret.

You remember when threads were full of quotes and @'s with just an emoji or a "hahah" as comment? I was really pleased when reacts reduced those!

Do you have info on the scale of the issue?

I asked this on the other thread and received a somewhat snippy reply from the OP but I’m interested in what drove the decision to remove it entirely rather than look at a midway solution. For me the emojis are a very useful way to express appreciation without adding an otherwise contentless post to the “noise” on the thread and they certainly seem to have reduced those lenghy bouts of “yeah me too” posts.

Was there wide scale actual abuse or was it a small but persistent number of abusers? (In which case wouldn’t persistent abuse result in a ban?) Is there an option to simply make the laugh emoji public or restrict it from some topics rather than ditch it entirely?

Or if it was simply taking more mod time that it was worth that is fair enough, I just think its a shame that something designed to reduce noise on threads is no longer available.

OK, some people are so deeply wounded by a stranger's passing laughter that they need to ask the grown-ups to erase it.

Removing everyone's option to laugh doesn't look like vulnerability, but a power play. Judging by the number of triumphant posts about this across the boards today, it is.

I haven’t used any of the new emoji reactions, I preferred the thanks one.

I haven’t noticed any laughing ones used on my posts so seem to have avoided that too.

But it seems there’s a discrepancy between your post wrt mnhq reaction and others who reported it.