Do you click?

[Pamela Galli]

How much do you click the reaction buttons? What makes you click or abstain? 
 

ETA  If you could edit the buttons what would you do?
 

Why I am wondering:  It Is sad to come across a post someone has put time and thought into, and they get no reaction — and the reason, I am pretty sure, is that they are newish and not well known. They must assume no one read what they wrote, or that everyone disliked it so much that their only response is stony silence. 
 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by Pamela Galli

[Janet Voxel]

I think it’s a little more nuanced than that.

Sometimes, I click like if someone says exactly what I was thinking. Sometimes I really just like the idea of what someone said. I’m an idea person, so I really don’t care who posted something, I’ll like what I like regardless of past disagreements. I’m also aware that not everyone is like that. If you disagree with them...you’re out to get them, can dish it out but can’t take it, all that kind of stuff.

There is also a dark side to the reaction buttons. There’s the scornful laugh, the confused one. Sometimes people just post things, just to get a reaction sticker without really adding anything and end up derailing a really good thread because they basically wanted a sticker.

No system is perfect. Even if they weren’t there we’d still have the same serial posters, trolls, etc, etc. The fact that they don’t always get a reaction should probably tell them something, but it doesn’t. 
 

Ahhh, forum life....

 

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

31 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

How much do you click the reaction buttons? What makes you click or abstain? 
 

Why I am wondering:  It Is sad to come across a post someone has put time and thought into, and they get no reaction — and the reason, I am pretty sure, is that they are newish and not well known. They must assume no one read what they wrote, or that everyone disliked it so much that their only response is stony silence. 
 

 

I click pretty often, and how long someone has been on the forums doesn't play into it at all. However, if a post is very long, I may not take time to read it. I'm a drive-by type of forum person and usually just hop in and out while doing something else.

P.S. It would sure be nice to have a middle finger reaction sometimes.  

[clone00345]

6 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

I click pretty often, and how long someone has been on the forums doesn't play into it at all. However, if a post is very long, I may not take time to read it. I'm a drive-by type of forum person and usually just hop in and out while doing something else.

P.S. It would sure be nice to have a middle finger reaction sometimes.  

So do I. They need to add more reactions, it would be nice to have one with a thumb pointing down to show I did not like the post. 

[Sukubia Scarmon]

I click when I want someone to know what I think about the post. for whatever reason. 
What I almost never click is pictures - mainly because I don't have the time to click everyone, but I'd feel instantly guilty if I don't, because everyone made an effort with their pic and honestly - I do like everyones picture, I'm just burning out very quickly  with clicking and am endlessly lazy to boot. 

[LittleMe Jewell]

I use the reactions quite a bit.  Usually my Like is because I agree with what is said, but sometimes it is simply an acknowledgement of the post. 

I only use the Thanks to either thank someone for a direct answer or for providing information that I find useful. 

I use the sad to either show that the post gave me a moment of sadness or for times when I want to acknowledge a post, but "like" just does not seem appropriate for whatever was written.  Sometimes it is more for a virtual empathy hug.

I typically use the Confuse reaction if a post truly confuses me -- either I flat do not understand what they have written or I'm truly baffled by their viewpoint.  

While I do use the Laugh reaction when someone makes me chuckle, I also am guilty of using it just for laughing at a post in more or a "for real?!?!?!" reaction.

I would like to have a Love / Heart reaction and would like something to handle my WTH usage of the Laugh reaction.

Edited January 28, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell

[Janet Voxel]

Thumbs down/dislike reaction would be a really, really....reeeeeeally bad idea.

[Saskia Rieko]

1 hour ago, Pamela Galli said:

How much do you click the reaction buttons? What makes you click or abstain? 
 

Why I am wondering:  It Is sad to come across a post someone has put time and thought into, and they get no reaction — and the reason, I am pretty sure, is that they are newish and not well known. They must assume no one read what they wrote, or that everyone disliked it so much that their only response is stony silence. 
 

 

I click mosty posts with pictures because I like when people share their pics. 

it is interesting what you said because I see it completely opposite - I much more prefer that someone actually responds to what I wrote by mentioning me or quoting instead of reactions because reactions can be misinterpreted, at least the laughing face. 

[rasterscan]

Once they release this emoticon I'll be clicking a lot more often ...

[Pamela Galli]

22 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

I click pretty often, and how long someone has been on the forums doesn't play into it at all. However, if a post is very long, I may not take time to read it. I'm a drive-by type of forum person and usually just hop in and out while doing something else.

P.S. It would sure be nice to have a middle finger reaction sometimes.  

Seeing how that works elsewhere, I have come to appreciate the effectiveness of stony silence. (That’s why I like to see any helpful or at least benign post acknowledged with at least a thank you — tho the icon for that seems a bit excessive for that.)  Negative reaction buttons have the potential to set things on fire, and not in a good way.
 

With the stony silence at least people can tell themselves no one read the post. 

[Paul Hexem]

48 minutes ago, janetosilio said:

No system is perfect. Even if they weren’t there we’d still have the same serial posters, trolls, etc, etc. The fact that they don’t always get a reaction should probably tell them something, but it doesn’t. 

I felt that one. 

[Pamela Galli]

7 minutes ago, Saskia Rieko said:

it is interesting what you said because I see it completely opposite - I much more prefer that someone actually responds to what I wrote by mentioning me or quoting instead of reactions because reactions can be misinterpreted, at least the laughing face. 

So for you the better alternative to mentioning you would be silence rather than a reaction?

Edited January 28, 2020 by Pamela Galli

[Pamela Galli]

Since people are doing it anyway I added this to the OP:

If you could edit the buttons what would you do?

[Saskia Rieko]

9 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

So for you the better alternative to mentioning you would be silence rather than a reaction?

When we talk about written posts, not pictures, then yes, I prefer when someone actually responds answering my question or commenting on what I wrote or be silent instead of using a reaction I might not understand. I sometimes have troubles to recognize emotions, maybe it is the reason. Silence doesn’t bother me, I simply think that maybe in fact it was not that interesting what I have just said but it doesn’t offend or worry me. 

Edited January 28, 2020 by Saskia Rieko

[Cindy Evanier]

I pondered a while as to when and why I use the reactions.  I don't pay attention to the age of the poster generally though I am more inclined to give a reaction to "friends" or posters whose name I recognise.  Sometimes I don't react because I am speed reading and have nothing of interest to me in the thread so move on.

I use like if I agree or enjoyed reading.  (I also like over on our how do you feel today support thread and a while back added a disclaimer that my like wasn't because I like your suffering but it was that I get it, I understand, you have my support)  

I use thank you if someone has added to my post in a helpful well or educated me or has provided me with useful information.

I don't think I have ever used the laugh reaction as a scornful laugh, I use it because someone said something funny that gave me a giggle.

There are a couple of people I will never give my attention to so they never will get a reaction from me.  

Then there are times when I just forget to react.

If i could edit the reactions there are times when I would like a wtf you idiot reaction or a hug reaction and instead of HAHA laugh maybe a smile

[Janet Voxel]

22 minutes ago, Gadget Portal said:

I felt that one. 

 

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

32 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

With the stony silence at least people can tell themselves no one read the post. 

Yeah, but I don't have self-restraint like you do, Pam. 😛

[LittleMe Jewell]

18 minutes ago, Cindy Evanier said:

I use like if I agree or enjoyed reading.  (I also like over on our how do you feel today support thread and a while back added a disclaimer that my like wasn't because I like your suffering but it was that I get it, I understand, you have my support)  

Yes, this is another reason I use the Like - to try to convey the 'I understand/support you'.

 

18 minutes ago, Cindy Evanier said:

There are a couple of people I will never give my attention to so they never will get a reaction from me.  

I have started taking this approach with some people, especially if I think someone is trolling or just being an a** - I see no reason to increase their reputation even with scornful laughing.

 

18 minutes ago, Cindy Evanier said:

If i could edit the reactions there are times when I would like a wtf you idiot reaction or a hug reaction and instead of HAHA laugh maybe a smile

In the little emoticons that we can include in the post itself, there is a closed mouth smile and an opened mouth grin and a open mouth laugh -  - at least that is how I think of them.  If I had the regular smile reaction, then I could see using that one instead of the current Like and then the Heart could become a Love rather than Like.  There are times I really want something stronger than Like. 

It would probably be more appropriate, and at least a little nicer, for me to switch to the confused reaction for the "wtf, you idiot" response, rather than scornfully laughing.  I'll have to work on that -- though there are times that I don't really care about "being nicer".  (heck, I am human, after all)

I would still like a separate Hug reaction, but I can always just quote and post a hug picture.  

Personally, I think our current Sad reaction looks a bit creepy - I'd like that one changed to maybe something with a tear or some other sad face.

 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell

[Pamela Galli]

The laugh button is like rl laughing — you can’t always tell the difference between laughing with or laughing at. I kind of think that’s a good thing (there was a discussion about its use here recently). The clicker can mean the laugh to mean “at” but the poster can take it to mean he said something witty. Well, sometimes,

[Tolya Ugajin]

1 hour ago, Pamela Galli said:

How much do you click the reaction buttons? What makes you click or abstain? 
 

ETA  If you could edit the buttons what would you do?
 

Why I am wondering:  It Is sad to come across a post someone has put time and thought into, and they get no reaction — and the reason, I am pretty sure, is that they are newish and not well known. They must assume no one read what they wrote, or that everyone disliked it so much that their only response is stony silence. 
 

 

I react to just about any post I have more then a "meh" reaction to.  If I laugh or agree or whatever, I use one of the emojis, sometimes adding a reply.  If I disagree, I usually respond with a quote.

I would like to see a "thumbs down" button.  Then I would probably react with mild disagreement using that rather than a quote.  Then if the person wants to know why, they can ask.  It would save me time up front and both of us a potentially pointless back and forth.

Edited January 28, 2020 by Tolya Ugajin
ETA someone is on a "let's improve the Forum" crusade!

[Pamela Galli]

1 minute ago, Tolya Ugajin said:

I would like to see a "thumbs down" button.

Which would be gasoline on a fire IMO. Do we really need that? 

[Janet Voxel]

36 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

Since people are doing it anyway I added this to the OP:

If you could edit the buttons what would you do?

That’s what memes and gifs are foooooorrrrrr!

[Pamela Galli]

32 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

Yeah, but I don't have self-restraint like you do, Pam. 😛

Yes I have quite a rep for genteel restraint.😌

[Tari Landar]

My answer is actually pretty stupid, well, most people say it is..

My screen is adapted, so I can read it, and part of that includes cropping out a LOT of things and primarily leaving the text with little more. IF I want to see the lil pics on the side and names, the other side gets cropped off (if it's a real bad day, both do, and I can only tell who is saying what by quoting to find out), lol.  Most of the time when I do react, it's because I've reloaded the page without adapting it, and the lil heart thingymabobby that you hover over to react, shows up, so then I can click it, if I can see it. I can't click what I can't see, though, so..

99% of the time, I don't react, because I hate reloading the page without the adaptation (it's a process) in case there are new posts. I can't read them without adapting the page again, and it just adds another process into my whole reading process and it annoys the crap out of me.

I'd rather respond than react. As much as I understand why people like the react buttons, they hold very little value compared to actual discussion for me. They also don't always accurately represent what people think they do, get misconstrued ALL the time here (I mean, we've had whole discussions about scorn laughing alone, have we not? lol).

Sometimes I react, most of the time I don't, and it has nothing to do with whether or not I read what people have to say. I read pretty much everything, I laugh, I scorn, I raise an eyebrow...but I do it all in person, not in icon form 😛 

If I could edit it, I'd probably actually remove those entirely, because I'm not convinced they serve the purpose people think they do..and I really hate the idea that people who don't give them are somehow giving posts less attention, or that people who do are giving the right attention

I'm a mixed bag on those things, really

I even give thumbs up in person, but none of ya ever see it, just hubby and then I get the  "forums?"

He thinks he's cute, and he's lucky he is 😛 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by Tari Landar
added stuffs

[Tolya Ugajin]

39 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

Which would be gasoline on a fire IMO. Do we really need that? 

Actually, I think it would remove the oxygen from them fire.  Instead of a response (which may be a flame, but will certainly be expressing the disagreement) the poster only sees "nope, I disagree".  I think the latter would produce much less fire, ESPECIALLY if the initial poster got, say, 10 thumbs downs instead of one or two detailed "I don't  agree here's why".