Laugh reaction

[Itsjustsodepressing]

I know when MN introduced the reaction button which included the Laugh emoji a lot of posters weren't happy about it. And there have been various comments by posters about its misuse.

It is just being used so commonly now to mock and deride serious comments that are in no way funny. That can no way be interpreted as light hearted.

It would appear to be being used to try and drive posters off threads. And the impression I get is that it's actually often certain posters ganging up together to try and silence people who don't agree with them.

I think MN having guidelines for posters to stick to civilised responses to other posters is being undermined because they have given those who are minded to be unpleasant to other posters the perfect tool to be nasty to them without having to verbalise anything and risk getting their post removed.

I'm failing to see any benefit in providing the laugh emoji reaction when it's principal use now is to upset and drive away genuine posters.

I don't think it was a good idea in the first place and I would like to see MN remove this reaction option.

That’s great news MN - glad to hear it.

Please don’t replace it with a 👎 or any other negative emoji, it will just be used as a way of mocking posters by the same idiots. If someone disagrees with someone, especially on more sensitive topics, then they need to explain why they disagree - they need to use their words like grown ups.

The thumbs down emoji gives me gladiator vibes, I don’t think that would be a good alternative…

Yes, I agree - it's a shame that this is why we 'can't have nice things'.

There are lots of very sharp and extremely witty people on here - Two Left Socks springs immediately to mind.

it's a real pity that a perfectly-timed, deliberately hilarious comment can't be acknowledged and appreciation shown to the poster for giving us a good genuine laugh anymore.

Might it be better to only remove the laugh emoji in topics that discuss serious issues?

It's often very nuanced, though. Some threads are clearly very serious/tragic and certainly not laughing matter, whilst others are a great lighthearted hilarious chuckle-fest.

It's all of the ones in-between, though, which straddle a wide spectrum of human emotion and can and do give rise to genuine humour in the midst of adversity.

Sometimes it clearly helps the OP in being able to enjoy some comic relief even in the wider context of a sad, annoying, embarrassing or frustrating scenario.

Comic relief can be much needed - but a hidden emoji doesn’t provide that.

If you want to respond to a poster/post that you think they/it is funny, then what’s wrong with ?

And now we have people saying how many agrees they got so that makes them right

I haven’t seen that (yet) @JaneJeffer

I don’t know if I am allowed to link @BIWIand the last time I posted a screenshot from another thread it got deleted

Hi all - just a quick note to say we’ve now removed the laugh reaction, as it was increasingly being used to poke fun at other posters, which is not quite the spirit we’re aiming for. It's worth saying that most of you were using it in good faith but we want to keep the boards a helpful and supportive place for MNers and reactions that come across as mocking don’t really help with that.

This is why we can’t have nice things - and thanks so much for all your feedback.

Could we maybe have another reaction to replace it, like "🔥"?

Thanks @eatfigs, we'll consider all suggestions. Should also add that we're not removing the laughs on previous posts, in case anyone was confused.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Good news

👍

@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?)

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.

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

Hi @BIWI , yes, this is it. We’ve been monitoring how the laugh reaction was being used for a while, and while it’s true that most posters used it in good faith, there were enough instances where it was being used to mock or belittle others that it started to have a real impact. It's a shame, but there you are.

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.