Reaction emojis- why has mumsnet removed the laughing reaction?

[Onlyharmony]

Has anyone else noticed that it's gone?

Some posts are genuinely funny so I like to react to them.

I also suggested once we have a wow face and a sad one.

Does anyone use them much? What reactions would you like to see?

small amount of people spoil things for everyone else

By using it as a means to laugh at a not necessarily funny post?

The thing is people will do that, they are humans and I don't think it's for mumsnet to police it.

I mean people post way worse in text so not sure what removing the emoji is going to do really.

It's a pity.

I'd also like a sad react and a wow, as well as the return of laughter!

People pressured MNHQ to remove it because they couldn't deal with the occasional stranger hitting 😂 on their sad posts. So now none of us can.

😄 Except we can

👍 Yes, we can! Love a thread full of quoted comments just to convey a response!

Just do laughing response reply and then people can just hit agree lol.

It's rather sad.

Well that laughing face was a bit over the top and could be used as a nasty response to someone's post.
Why not just have a pleasantly smiling face?
Could mean the same that you appreciated the way the post was written but would be less likely to be used as a rude reaction to someone's post.

But people can do that anyway on a written text on here?

How people choose to use things is up to them. The world isn't an entirely pleasant place I'm afraid and people will and can react/ reply as they like. We will all come across behaviour we don't like.

Also, some posts are truly ridiculous and that's some people choose to react to reflect that. It's the online world I'm afraid and this is far from a safe space.

It could be a lot safer if when you see that someone has reacted to your post you don't have to be a little bit leery of opening it for fear of seeing some emoji that clearly is not a response to your amusing post but just a nasty response from another poster to you.
The heart symbol and the thumbs up symbol and the clapping hand although I never used that one, are all positive the other one can clearly be used as a I'm laughing at YOU.

I'm glad it's gone. It kept being used as an insulting patronising laugh by some bullies

"Bullies" 😂

How do the people unable to go on with their day because a complete stranger posted a laughing face cope with actual life?

Living amoungst humans who dont always love and applaud every single thing they say must be an absolute misery.

But removing it isn't going to stop people doing that. They will find a way regardless.

I don't necessarily think everyone is a bully who does that. It entirely depends on the context of the post. Sometimes people do post ridiculous things and people will laugh at ridiculous things.

Online behaviour encourages people to bring their thoughts out of their mind and reflect them to everyone. If mumsnet doesn't want that then remove post replies and emojis which kind of defeats the point.

welcome to MN. It's frightening.

There's an incredible amount of posters who find offence in any interaction - even the ones that do not involve them at all - and who don't seem to cope with the most
That's why they start thread asking if it's ok to have muesli for breakfast, or wear socks or something. They literally cannot cope 😂

I think it's less about Mumsnet wanting it removed, as it is Mumsnetters themselves, the posters who must have complained over the many months to the point where it was just simpler to remove it.
Yes Mumsnet can and has removed insulting public posts, but that takes time.
The reaction emojis were from one poster to another, not made public.
I'm glad it's gone too.
I only used it once, and it was a genuine response to a well-written and amusing post.
You don't get too many of those on here.
To those who are disappointed, and have used it to be rude, have you never heard of "if you have nothing good to say, then say nothing at all." ?
That's how people who aren't overtly rude handle things IRL.

by bullies, do you mean someone who didn't agree with you?

It was being used by bullies to mock posters, without the peer pressure of being visible to third parties.

It was used when I posted to say it was unfair to reduce benefits for those living with a disability. The person who did it was literally laughing at the disabled? That's not disagreement. What would you call it?

The difference is that when it's done as a reply it's out in the open, whereas the laughing face was being used to make a nasty little personal dig that no one else would be aware of.

If I don't agree with someone on a public forum I step up and say so openly, and face the fact I may get disgreement in turn. Jabbing a person privately adds nothing to the conversation. It doesn't even make it visible that the poster's POV is not shared by everyone. It's cowardly and serves no purpose other than being nasty.

Without knowing exactly what you wrote and how you wrote it, at most I would call them a twat.

I wouldn't call them a bully frankly.

it is a public forum, but it's an anonymous one. You can make any nasty dig anonymously anyway.

You see a laughing emoji on one of your posts, so what? Complete non-issue, either you made someone laugh because it was funny, or you touched a nerve with someone.

A few times I’ve played devils advocate and said ‘but what if’ on a post to let the poster know there’s other sides than the horrible stuff that came from the posters before me. Got a laughing face back. It’s actually horrible to get but yes now people can just post a laughing emoji!!!

Well you can do that then. Then everyone can see it.

People were using it to bully other people. It's better those people don't hide behind a hidden emoji really.

Sorry you are feeling frightened by mumsnet.

that's when a 😂emoji would work better than a lengthy reply