Reactions are here - update from MNHQ

[KatyMumsnet]

We’ve listened to your feedback! While many of you have enjoyed the ‘Thanks’ button, you also told us that you'd love more ways to express your feelings on the site.

Starting today, you now have the choice of four reactions:
‘Agree’, ‘Love’, ‘Funny’, and ‘Thanks’.

Here’s how it works:

• Select the ‘React’ button underneath the OP or reply.
• Choose the reaction that reflects how you feel about the post.
• Reactions are private and are only visible to the post owner.
• You can select one reaction per post.

We hope this gives you even more ways to engage with posts and share how you feel.

Let us know your thoughts or any questions in the comments below!

Is there a reason why the count of "applause" reactions is accompanied by a blue icon in the thread, when the reaction itself is yellow? It takes me almost a third of a second to tell the difference, and time is money. 😉

You do now. At the time at which I posted that you didn't: that particular function was not yet working and so you were not able to.

Memo to MNHQ: how about testing your blasted innovations before you throw them open to all users, next time? It has happened before that something has not all been working when it was landed on us without warning.

Sofasogreat
But MN won't change it back. It's like all tech, constant enshittification and no interest in the actual user experience.

You have it in one. It seems impossible to get through to a lot of people that "change" and "improvement" are not synonyms, and that "progress" may be off a cliff.

Some of you really need to toughen up. Being upset by a small row of emoji, is really reaching. You're grown adults, not toddlers battling emotional dysregulation.

Can we have a downvote emoji added please?

Grown adults don't need emojis.

I like it, but feel an important one is missing. This is the support/sorry for your loss reaction, as using the love or thumbs up emoji isn't quite right...maybe a 'care' one would be better to show support for someone who has lost someone or is down about something?

Why not just have the whole lot available and let people choose from as many as they feel like, while offering a "thanks" button?

Love the biscuit, I might start using it again

Boriiiiiiing.

A while back I was somewhat pleased that after my long, long list of suggestions, you tried having a click to express thanks. But this seems like over-kill. Plus which it doesn't seem to work the way you think it does. I got a "reaction" without a hint of what. And when I tried to use it, it didn't seem to be clear, either. Emoticons? Is that the idea? We can't even use our words?

Yes, exactly, so not sure about that one.

Wow what a blast from the past!

It has almost gone into extinction with so many other competing emojis 99% of which I don't bother with because they look like little coloured blobs unless you zoom in 300%

@KatyMumsnet should you think about adding something about appropriate Emoticon usage into your Talk guidelines, given the potential for abuse? Obviously it's much more nuanced than words in a post, because you would have to interpret whether there was "emoti-abuse" (eg sarcasm, nastiness - using the laugh emoticon to mock someone etc).

at least if you have something in Guidelines, you'll have some criteria to judge misuse, just the same as you have guidelines around regular posting to enable you to delete a post because "It's against Talk Guidelines"

personally I think it's really stretching it to think 4 emojis are going to suddenly cause WWIII on here, but if there is a perceived risk you probably need to respond to that (maybe see how it goes over the next few months - notwithstanding the holiday season with multiple cases of misuse under the influence of too much Festive gin)

whatever happened to the - it didn't really take off did it.

I know that I don't post here very often anymore. But I feel that the laugh reaction has the potential to be used as a hidden form of online bullying.
If someone posts something serious they could then get a string of people laughing at them, hidden to everyone else, so that they can't be called out on it.

Bookmarks or Watch threads don't always work for some people especially if they are using the app. Mine is intermittent and I have zero clue as to why it doesn't always work. Personally I think they should make it impossible to quote the first post as that if far more annoying to scroll past than one itsy bitsy letter.

Very good point OYBBK
Lovely to 'see' you again, I've missed you!
(I was reading back the old Skripal threads recently - wild times! And, I think the first time we witnesed Russian trolls in action)
Merry Christmas to you and yours

Then don't use the app then. I never have. But then I use my laptop to view Mumsnet because I actually like a large screen and seeing what I'm viewing. As well as the ability to fast keyboard touchtype rather than spending 5 minutes painstakingly tapping out a reply. I don't understand people who say 'I can't do that on the app' but don't think about not using it as a solution.

Surely getting a string of 😂emoticons wouldn't be due to bullying herd mentality, because the perpetrators can't see other people using it. It would be down to coincidence.

In fact it's a good argument for keeping them hidden to prevent online bullying due to that lack of visibility and people piling in.

I'd like to think that bad apples on MN are the exception not the rule - other platforms such as Reddit are more likely to be toxic (not saying they use emoticons for that, but the behaviour is pretty awful).

Ah Daisy you can't come on here and be so sensible 🤪 🤣

@SwordToFlamethrower@hobbledyhoy@xyz111@Minimum85percentCocoa

Just to say the beta version of the app (worth applying for the test if you have the inclination) is a vast improvement over what we had, especially on android. It's not perfect, but you can edit posts, vote, see all posts by a poster and jump to a post in the thread etc. give thanks if you want to (I've not checked other reactions).

Edit: Checked and it seems to be thanks only for now!

@AngelontopoftheTree you are now the proud owner of my first 😂x

Not a fan of this new react button

The old way of just giving thanks was fine, and useful

Yes I have come here to say the same thing! When I scroll along I keep hitting the react button and the options pop up and mask the messages. As a PP said it can be a bit jarring having smiley faces over quite sad posts. Can the position at least be changed please?

I didn’t totally understand the complaints about the emojis popping up all the time but yes this seems almost deliberately designed to be touched just by normal scrolling. I’m already fed up of the faces appearing when I’m simply scrolling through a thread. Please change the position of this option on the footer (and completely get rid of the ‘add post’ button while you’re at it, please)

I scroll with my right thumb so never hit reactions button accidentally, I do however hit "report" quite a bit.

Agree with "Add post" button, it's not needed.