The laughing emoji

[tobydawq]

Even when non-malicious, it can apparently still be quite annoying.

That's a unique case, I would say. When she is in the mood they really get overused at every post in the vicinity.

 

[Cookster15]

Lots of us like to put the occasional joke into our posts, and the laughing response that is offered to us is nice to see as an appreciation of that.

But the same laugh response is also frequently used as a response to a serious opinion. In that case, it seems to me that it is a level of rudeness in response that could not be said in the light of our "Civility is compulsory" rule. It is essentially not only saying that the poster, and/or their opinion, is laughable, or is a joke, but is an invitation to ridicule somebody's opinion without even making an effort to rebut it.

In the case of a joke being made, to like it is to appreciate the humour, ie to think it deserves a laugh. Thus it seems to me that the laughing emoji is redundant, and serves no purpose (other than looking nice) to give plausible denial to those being uncivil in a particularly lazy manner. My thinking therefore is to propose to the administrators that the facility of the LOL emoji be removed.

Thoughts?

I'm with Toby. My thoughts are leave emojis as they are - not a big problem. Yes, I've noticed how they can be used to belittle posters you disagree with but this approach can be used with all kinds of opinions.

 

[Sciatic]

Of course, the laughing emoji is not the “cause” of the disrespect or ridicule in the instances when it’s used that way, just one means of expressing it. If you think folks should be using words rather than symbols, you will get comments like:
“Can you give me your dealers number cause damn I need what you've been smoking” (from another thread today)
“How much more delusional can you get?”
“Have you ever even watched a bike race before?”
Or simply:
“I think that’s ridiculous”

Is that what we prefer to see?

 

[AmRacer]

Of course, the laughing emoji is not the “cause” of the disrespect or ridicule in the instances when it’s used that way, just one means of expressing it. If you think folks should be using words rather than symbols, you will get comments like:
“Can you give me your dealers number cause damn I need what you've been smoking” (from another thread today)
“How much more delusional can you get?”
“Have you ever even watched a bike race before?”
Or simply:
“I think that’s ridiculous”

Is that what we prefer to see?

Harassment warnings galore

 

[Netserk]

Of course, the laughing emoji is not the “cause” of the disrespect or ridicule in the instances when it’s used that way, just one means of expressing it. If you think folks should be using words rather than symbols, you will get comments like:
“Can you give me your dealers number cause damn I need what you've been smoking” (from another thread today)
“How much more delusional can you get?”
“Have you ever even watched a bike race before?”
Or simply:
“I think that’s ridiculous”

Is that what we prefer to see?

It's easier to police more legible forms of disrespect.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Of course, the laughing emoji is not the “cause” of the disrespect or ridicule in the instances when it’s used that way, just one means of expressing it. If you think folks should be using words rather than symbols, you will get comments like:
“Can you give me your dealers number cause damn I need what you've been smoking” (from another thread today)
“How much more delusional can you get?”
“Have you ever even watched a bike race before?”
Or simply:
“I think that’s ridiculous”

Is that what we prefer to see?

If people have no more logical grounds than these, they really shouldn't be replying at all: if they have a rational counter-argument to propose, they should do that.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Harassment warnings galore

Anyone who insults and/or harasses others should expect nothing else, and can blame noone else.

 

[Cookster15]

Anyone who insults and/or harasses others should expect nothing else, and can blame noone else.

Agree. But use of the laughing emoji is not harassment. And as has been pointed out we have the ignore feature.

 

[tobydawq]

Of course, the laughing emoji is not the “cause” of the disrespect or ridicule in the instances when it’s used that way, just one means of expressing it. If you think folks should be using words rather than symbols, you will get comments like:
“Can you give me your dealers number cause damn I need what you've been smoking” (from another thread today)
“How much more delusional can you get?”
“Have you ever even watched a bike race before?”
Or simply:
“I think that’s ridiculous”

Is that what we prefer to see?

Or simply: "Lol."

 

[hrotha]

It's easier to police more legible forms of disrespect.

Yes, but an emoji is a very mild form of disrespect, the equivalent of something like "lol", "are you serious" or "yeah right", none of which should elicit moderation on its own. It's part of the banter and it's largely harmless, and not worth losing the legitimate uses of the emoji

 

[Berniece]

The laughing emoji is why I put 2 people on my ignore list. If you don't engage in a meaningful discussion, and can only respond like a child, you get handled as such. You're being put in the corner. But there are also people that use it, while also sometimes do engage in a meaningful discussion.

Problem with laughing emoji is that you can't report it, like you could do if someone would actually respond with "lol" on your post. Can you choose which emoji's you want to make available as a possible response? Crying of laughter emoji can easily be exchanged by big smiles emoji. That's mostly interpreted differently, and can still be used as a way to express that a joke was funny. It's not really used to ridicule someone.

 

[AmRacer]

The laughing emoji is why I put Salvarini and snipeheem on my ignore list. If you don't engage in a meaningful discussion, and can only respond like a child, you get handled as such. You're being put in the corner. But there are also people that use it, while also sometimes do engage in a meaningful discussion. AmRacer has used it on my posts too multiple times, but on other occasions he can actually contribute.

Problem with laughing emoji is that you can't report it, like you could do if someone would actually respond with "lol" on your post. Can you choose which emoji's you want to make available as a possible response? Crying of laughter emoji can easily be exchanged by big smiles emoji. That's mostly interpreted differently, and can still be used as a way to express that a joke was funny. It's not really used to ridicule someone.

I will not put anyone on my ignore list, especially not children. Also I tend to act like you with children.

I never report a post, but have recently failed and reported a few bots. 😟

And finally, I must say you contribute to the forum every now and then. 😃

 

[RedheadDane]

What if someone makes a joke in a race thread?
Without a quick and easy way for people to show that they're finding the joke funny, we might get a bunch of "Haha." "LOL!" "Nice one." Replies, cluttering the thread.

People using the laugh react in a mocking manner is just such a minor issue, it's not worth losing its useful features over.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

What if someone makes a joke in a race thread?
Without a quick and easy way for people to show that they're finding the joke funny, we might get a bunch of "Haha." "LOL!" "Nice one." Replies, cluttering the thread.

People using the laugh react in a mocking manner is just such a minor issue, it's not worth losing its useful features over.

It's only useful feature is noting that a joke is appreciated. If it were not available, the thumbs up response to a joke would do precisely that. I honestly cannot fathom how that seems to be beyond people, but I raised it here as a proposal to see if there was support.


Evidently not; closing the thread. PM me if you have anything to add on the matter.