Please bring back the laughing emoji

[LunaTheCat]

Dear Mumsnet .. please bring this back.. I miss it heaps !

😂all ready a thread on this.

Absolutely agree. I used it often and it's a better way of letting someone know you appreciate their wit or whatever than quoting the post and then doing the laughing emoji on your keyboard.

Me too. Although I appreciate there were a minority of malicious twats using it for unpleasant purposes, it was a good way of acknowledging a funny post rather than cluttering a thread up by quoting.

There ought to be a pub called 'The Laughing Emoji'

Perhaps there is?🤔

I miss it a lot too. I get that bullies were abusing it passive-aggressively to mock people whose serious posts they disagreed with (but weren't mature enough to use their words); but there are so many genuinely hilarious witty comments on here that I'd like to acknowledge my appreciation of with a simple click, without - as PP said - rather self-indulgently quoting the whole post and filling up the thread just to tell everybody that I found something funny.

I know we can still use the 'thanks' or 'love' emojis, but they often just don't properly resonate for me in the same way as the old 'thank you - that was very funny' emoji did.

I suppose there could be an option for a dignified 'I disagree with you' emoji - maybe a thumbs-down - but that would probably be abused or misinterpreted too.

Such a shame when we can't have nice things, because a small number of nasty people want to spoil them for everybody.

It never even occurred to me that people were using them to be unpleasant. I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose. At least I now know why they disappeared. I still think they should be brought back though. We're all adults here and anyone posting surely knows they risk replies/reactions from unpleasant people.

I used to agree with you. Until I received lots of laughing emojis on a couple of threads. It was horrible and unnerving. At first I was confused. Re read my posts to check I wasn’t being funny. But no. It was a horrible poster who chose that emoji to make me feel stupid.

Me too.

So many amazing, funny Mnetters. I want them to know I get their posts without looking like a total fangirl.😍

I love it when there is a witty, funny comment. Especially when some absolute spatula comes on with a goady thread and no one bites. There are some really funny and clever people and I liked to show appreciation.

I have laughed so many times reading MN over the years, proper crying laughing and I do appreciate those posts. 👋 to fellow wit appreciators!

😂

I wish I'd been able to just do that on your post!

Yes i think the pp who want the laugh emoji back must never have been on the receiving end of it being used to ridicule them.

It was really a horrible experience.

I think it made me realise the sheer nastiness of some MN posters.
It certainly deterred me from posting anything for a while.

I'm really glad MN have removed the emoji.

No, it was used to ridicule people, i would use it to acknowledge a funny post but too many didn't.

Shame but as in life, a minority ruin it for the many.

I was annoyed too. The positive is that you are highlighting someone's funny comment which can project more enjoyment for all from the comment.

Yes pls bring it back!!

I have to agree I saw it overused most days by people laughing at misfortune or serious posts. Like I know someone would be putting it on my post right now not because they thought my post was funny but just to have a dig.

I’ve been on the receiving end too but there are twats everywhere, removing it is throwing the (laughing) baby out with the bathwater.

It should stay away, it’s used inappropriately and there’s enough negative behaviour here already.

I used it to laugh at anyone who attempted to use insults instead of having an actual discussion.
You know the 'your IQ is so low you that cannot possibly understand my superiority' type of comments?

The alternative could have been to trial making the emoticons visible which would expose the bullies but then there are people who objected to that because it would become a popularity contest.

Or to expose the abuser publicly but that would taint the MN platform and go against Talk Guidelibes.

Some low life will so anything to spoil it for the rest and abuse of a simple fun emoji was one way. It shows them up for who they are.

I got thrown out of a Facebook group for using this emoji too much. Yep, seriously 😂😂

I'm a poster who often gets alot of nastymess on here. I get kind people to. But in this case we are talking about the nasty side of things. And to be honest i would much rather see a laughing face rather than a post full of nastiness..and no I'm not talking about a difference of opinion I'm talking nastiness.

It's just a laughing face people put up with alot more than that on here. And it stops people using it in a kind fun way . Because people are not grown up enough to use it in the right way. But also because people get upset over a laughing face.

Well yes some people can shrug it off and not get upset when people ridicule them.

But there are a lot of people with low self esteem, who are isolated and alone in real life , who are in a bad place mentally etc where random strangers ridiculing their opinion is actually a big deal. They can't shrug it off because its yet another sign of their not belonging and their lack of self worth.

They should be entitled to put forward their views, within the talk guidelines , without other posters effectively trying to silence them.

I think the posters on here who think its no big deal to be ridiculed and bullied obviously have the self confidence that many posters on MN do not.

And I agree with @Callie247
that if the laugh emoji was still an option certain posters would be going through every post that was in favour of doing away with the emoji on this thread and putting the emoji on them.

It's ridiculous that it's been removed. If an emoji hurts your feelings, you shouldn't be on the internet.

To be completely honest, anyone going online probably needs to accept that there are a lot of unkind/nasty/insecure people out there, because while I don't condone bullying it is also virtually impossible to stop it. Sometimes people hit the wrong response in error too.

Someone used it at someone who was suicidal. If you don't care about that you shouldn't be on mumsnet.