Hmm, that’s an interesting thought. It would probably be fairly easy to make a “Good Post” word emoji, though “I Agree” wouldn’t lay out quite as well. The 
is pretty good already.
The pronoun “I” is not strictly needed. The verb “Agree” is sufficient and lays out fine.
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As I recall …
was intended as an “atta boy,” meaning that the post added something valuable to the thread, regardless of whether the person awarding it agreed or disagreed with the post.
It meant that the post either:
- Added relevant, new information to the thread; or
- Explained or crystallized information scattered among preceding posts within the thread.
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(I agree with that definition)
Given the varying interpretations of these pictographs (I looked in my Mac’s Emoji viewer and didn’t find the Thank You icon) here (and perhaps internationally) it seems they are possibly something Admins can create in Discourse tailored to the forum.
If TBT is exclusively in English then maybe word-icons can be created in English. Then, depending on the overarching approach to the forum, appropriate icons could be created by someone who has the time for it.
For example if neutrality/positivity is generally the approach, icons like Thank You/Agree/Good Post could be made to readily support a post. That way anyone having something negative to write, would have to explain it (require more effort to show negativity). For bare-knuckled forums, different icons could be created for example…
We could also ask ourselves what is the point of the icons in the first place, as they make emotional expressions so much easier to make without thoughtfulness. Suppose it is all wrapped up in what kind of tone the forum owner/participants aim to maintain.
I wonder if Discourse allows in the reaction icon ‘tooltip’ or what it’s called, for a personal tally of use of the icons to be displayed under the icon, so the poster/reactor, when mouse/pointering-over, has a moment of feedback to show their personal level of icon usage. But Hm… maybe would help maybe not. Depends on the user I suppose.
Just chucking these thoughts out there for personal consideration (or not), not inviting feedback/reactions etc.
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It’s to prevent threads that just have several posts saying ‘I agree’ or ‘Good point’, so that the posts are actually substantive. Personally I’d be sad to see all the reactions replaced with word icons (I’m not even sure you can replace the 
which is the built-in default). It seems unlikely that anyone would be confused by the general meaning of the current three:
And having images for two of them breaks up what is by necessity a text-heavy medium with a bit of colour and whimsy.
I know that was the official definition, but I don’t think everyone saw it that way. I know I could never quite remember what it meant and was very hesitant to give a to a post which I was glad someone had posted but I disagreed with. I don’t think I ever gave it a , it just felt like the wrong vibe when I didn’t want to endorse the particular reasoning or opinion. I also didn’t use the 
because I felt that if I couldn’t be bothered to explain why I disagreed what’s the point of just saying ‘no’.
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Good input @jolin, thanks, I am one of those anyones. I don’t use social media (unless TBT counts) and don’t use emoji much in the small amount of texting I do, and this is the only forum I actively use. To me, a heart and smiling faces could be the same (how many emoji variations of smiling faces are there, a dozen or more, so easily confused). Thank You is unanmbiguous, unless the clicker was being ironic, hm…
I agree about keeping threads efficient and do favour colour and whimsy!
There is a certain element of pictographic ‘knee jerk reaction’ that is facilitated by this though. I suppose I’m sort of aimlessly thinking out loud here, apologies. But I am not attuned to the digital culture aspect of reacting to tweets and similar things and building thumbs-up counts for feeling good or whatever folks do on those services these days.
As I learned in journalism studies, communication is hard! but I find it fascinating to discuss. I was mainly a photojournalist for daily newspapers and think I only irritated readers or got negative feedback a few times. I did get a decent number of letters with compliments, which I found gratifying. I probably still have them in a file cabinet somewhere…
Interesting Topic, this!
Fair enough. I think the intention is that the second is a ‘grinning’ as opposed to ‘smiling’ face (so, 'amusing, funny, etc.), but can completely understand why for some these are too similar. Maybe 
or 
would be clearer? (Not that it’s my decision!)
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Yes, but implementation of this sort of rule requires a large and dedicated team of moderators. Otherwise, it is simple to circumvent character and content minimums through the use of boilerplate or placeholder text (such as graphic arts classic “lorem ipsum…”).
Not really a problem here. The most egregious stuff @ace takes out usually within hours. IMHO part of the reason this place does so well in spite of just a single moderator who does this as a side gig to his actual writer job, is that it strives to promote positivity & solution-based discussions (which attracts a certain set of people and perhaps repels a different group), and also, that it provides for good safeguards — any participant can report nonsense before it erupts into all out flame war.
I think @TBTdn makes a perfectly good point here. If you disagree and you think the world needs to know about your disagreement, you can be expected to put some effort into explaining your reasoning. Just like it took the person whose viewpoint you so disagree with. And yet, if you have more important stuff to do or just can’t be bothered to write (which is a bit ironic, considering this is after all a forum), well that’s ok too because the world will survive not knowing how you feel about this specific matter.
The one thing that indeed will make this a better place is if it’s made harder for people just looking to spread their negative vibes in that they can’t just snipe and crap onto somebody else’s post. I that sense I believe @ace’s latest change is 100% for the better.
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I was meaning something quite basic: when it is easier to give neutral or positive feedback via a click on an icon, vs. click-type-click, then it’s more likely neutral or positive feedback will happen vs. negative, among people who are feeling pressed for time, as many are these days.
Right On! & I agree @ace is amazing!
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Yes, and I view all those things as reasons why more, not fewer, emoticons are OK on TBT.
I would just add emoticons are not the only contributor to “negative vibes”. Posts with a hectoring and confrontational tone, use of swear words and semi-swear words, attempts to stop discussions with “this is my last post” proclamations, and announcing one’s intention to ignore another member all lead to a less positive environment on message boards.
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I would like a way to tell that “This is my recommendation/experience too” A word icon “THIS”.
I think “Agree” would take care of that, no?
“This” has more positive force. Any of them would work for what I want to convey.
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I’m curious. Where do you see the difference between “this” and ?
I wouldn’t want to use “This” because it’s Internet slang. Between people who don’t frequent Internet discussion areas where it’s common and those for whom English isn’t their first language, I think it would just be confusing for too many people.
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Heart I have always used when somebody has written something that impressed me. I used to mean “This is my recommendation/experience too.” I used “Thank you” when I learned something new and interesting, or when someone directly helped me.
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There are some ‘stickers’ out there, at least in WhatsApp, with short pithy word phrases. But they don’t have Unicode Standards assigned to them AFAIK. And none of any substance like “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”