What do you want to express when you like a post on this website?

[noname223]

I have stopped to use many reactions because I am scared one could misinterpret them. I have OCD and things like that scar me. But personally I like when people react to my threads in almost all cases. It shows me that people like and appreciate my posts. They interact with them and prove that all my energy which I spend on them is not wasted.

But I have thought about reactions. Some people want that certain reactions should be banned. The angry and the laughing reactions can be misused.

Though I also thought about the like button. I sometimes ask myself what people want to express with a like.
I can give an example someone describes horrible pain, dread, horror and suffering. Something that is quite common in this forum.
Why do people like such a post? I don't want to condemn anyone. There are plausible explanations why people like such a post.

I think one reason for liking a post is one can relate to another post. The person captured an emotion, feeling or situation which is relatable. And one wants to give a compliment how accurate and eloquent someone put it. Doing something like that is difficult and one wants to please the other person.

But I am anxious this could be seen as "I like that you are feeling bad". It could be misinterpreted. This is one reason why I am since some time more careful with likes. In general I think I always was more fan of the hugs reaction. Because one cannot perceive it in the wrong way. At least I cannot imagine a scenario.

Do you think misinterpreting likes or reactions is a problem in this forum? Sometimes I wonder about reactions but in general I have enough trust in the members that all that they want to show is compassion. (Maybe except 1-2 trolls who I have in mind.)

Or are reaction in general toxic? This is not how I perceive them. I would miss them.

 

[chronicphysicalpain]

Thumbs up for agreement, the rest seem quite specific.

I think it's just social anxiety and you should not worry on it, as 99.9% of the users understand the "likes" in a positive manner....

 

[lionetta12]

I react to posts to try and show understanding, empathy and agreement with what they are writing about. That's what it is for me at least.

 

[FuneralCry]

I think that I was the one posting about getting rid of the laugh and anger reaction. They always get misused. I feel like with the laugh reaction it's inappropriate as literally all of the posts are people posting about their suffering or methods. It really isn't funny that someone is suffering so much that they want to die, and if someone receives that reaction on their post then it could make them feel worse and people here are already suffering enough. Suicide should be treated with respect. There have been quite a few trolls on this website recently, I know what you mean.

I think that personally I would rather write comments than just like posts. The reactions don't reflect how I feel when I read posts. I understand what you mean by misinterpretation, I don't 'like' or 'love' that anyone here is suffering. I don't really have a problem though with the like and love reactions if they are used in a harmless way to support others and it may make people feel less alone I guess if they know that someone is reading what they are writing. But maybe they do belong more on a social media website than on here.

 

[Lost Magic]

I tend not to read into it too much anymore. I have had every emoji there is thrown at me. It just comes with the territory. This is still social media after all. I use the ones I deem appropriate for each post. I may get it wrong on occasion, but I am only human. Unfortunately there have been trolls on here. I would say, however, that most people on here are suffering and deserve all the compassion they get. It's a hard world. Respect.

 

[ColorlessTrees]

I default to the like button because I'm always on mobile and have a stupid fear of misclicking. Also, I prefer the neutrality of the thumbs up to the cutesy hugs icon because I've been a bit over the top with that image in the past. But I'm probably the only person who reads into that.

I don't have anything constructive to add to most posts, and I'm obsessive about my messages. Not everything I 'like' I agree with, but it tends to mean I found value in the contribution.

On vent posts, mostly, I dislike sounding so repetitive and generic because realistically there's nothing I can say. I use the reacts so people can see I read it and acknowledge their feelings, experiences, or topic.

 

[WorthlessTrash]

How much I hate myself, my life circumstances, how much I want to die and how much jealousy kills me.

 

[foreverfalling]

I've wanted to ask whether people liked getting reactions to their posts. In a way I enjoy getting them, like it's a confirmation that someone read and was moved by my post. I also use reactions to that degree, to let that person know I've read and related to a post. Of course an actual written reply would be best, but that would take way too much energy from me, and I'm afraid I don't have much to add to the conversation sometimes.

On more sensitive posts I am wary of how the reactions may be misinterpreted e.g. the Aww may be patronising, so I prefer the hug or simply the like. But that's the way it is when you simplify the interaction.

So a like is really a lazy way of interacting on the forum. Just like everything in the modern day, quantity over quality...

 

[broken_songbird]

I have stopped to use many reactions because I am scared one could misinterpret them. I have OCD and things like that scar me. But personally I like when people react to my threads in almost all cases. It shows me that people like and appreciate my posts. They interact with them and prove that all my energy which I spend on them is not wasted.

But I have thought about reactions. Some people want that certain reactions should be banned. The angry and the laughing reactions can be misused.

Though I also thought about the like button. I sometimes ask myself what people want to express with a like.
I can give an example someone describes horrible pain, dread, horror and suffering. Something that is quite common in this forum.
Why do people like such a post? I don't want to condemn anyone. There are plausible explanations why people like such a post.

I think one reason for liking a post is one can relate to another post. The person captured an emotion, feeling or situation which is relatable. And one wants to give a compliment how accurate and eloquent someone put it. Doing something like that is difficult and one wants to please the other person.

But I am anxious this could be seen as "I like that you are feeling bad". It could be misinterpreted. This is one reason why I am since some time more careful with likes. In general I think I always was more fan of the hugs reaction. Because one cannot perceive it in the wrong way. At least I cannot imagine a scenario.

Do you think misinterpreting likes or reactions is a problem in this forum? Sometimes I wonder about reactions but in general I have enough trust in the members that all that they want to show is compassion. (Maybe except 1-2 trolls who I have in mind.)

Or are reaction in general toxic? This is not how I perceive them. I would miss them.

Exactly what you said: I will use the like button when I relate to what someone said, or the love button if it really resonates deeply. I agree that these things can be misinterpreted and feel awkward liking/loving a post about death and despair. I was using the hugs and aww for awhile, but the hugs emoji is smiling. UGH. Same as you, I appreciate all reactions to my posts. I'm scrutinizing my own reactions to others' posts, but fully accepting reactions to my own posts.

 

[hamvil]

Mostly the fact that I read the post and wanted to let the writer know that. I like when people do that to my posts and want to reciprocate. I think the reaction "love" is a useful one even if the post is about some dark event. I do not interpret it as: "I love what has happened to you" but rather as "I would like to send you much love", sort of like a hug but a bit different.

The is also space for the smile and the laugh. A person can truly write something that is funny in a moment of darkness. If somebody instead wants to laugh at a sad post, well... what can I say... better to ignore that, it would not be the first time somebody has hurt me.

 

[Julgran]

I have stopped to use many reactions because I am scared one could misinterpret them. I have OCD and things like that scar me. But personally I like when people react to my threads in almost all cases. It shows me that people like and appreciate my posts. They interact with them and prove that all my energy which I spend on them is not wasted.

But I have thought about reactions. Some people want that certain reactions should be banned. The angry and the laughing reactions can be misused.

Though I also thought about the like button. I sometimes ask myself what people want to express with a like.
I can give an example someone describes horrible pain, dread, horror and suffering. Something that is quite common in this forum.
Why do people like such a post? I don't want to condemn anyone. There are plausible explanations why people like such a post.

I think one reason for liking a post is one can relate to another post. The person captured an emotion, feeling or situation which is relatable. And one wants to give a compliment how accurate and eloquent someone put it. Doing something like that is difficult and one wants to please the other person.

But I am anxious this could be seen as "I like that you are feeling bad". It could be misinterpreted. This is one reason why I am since some time more careful with likes. In general I think I always was more fan of the hugs reaction. Because one cannot perceive it in the wrong way. At least I cannot imagine a scenario.

Do you think misinterpreting likes or reactions is a problem in this forum? Sometimes I wonder about reactions but in general I have enough trust in the members that all that they want to show is compassion. (Maybe except 1-2 trolls who I have in mind.)

Or are reaction in general toxic? This is not how I perceive them. I would miss them.

The emojis are useful in cases you would like to agree with another member, but don't have any useful words to add to the discussion, so you can use an emoji in order not to dilute the thread with useless posts.

 

[Celerity]

Thumbs up for agreement or appreciation of effort mainly. Even if I don't agree with someone, I can appreciate if they are evenhanded or have put in an interesting perspective. If I don't have a strong opinion or emotional reaction to the post, I will default to the thumbs up.

 

[GrumpyFrog]

I'm pretty sure that when users like posts about others being in pain, they don't mean to say "yeah, I'm glad you're hurting", they just want to say that they agree/can relate. Sure, emojis can be misinterpreted - but so can posts, because when you type you cannot convey the tone. You know what you want to say, and if the other person misunderstands you, you can always clarify. And if they don't want your clarification, then that's not your fault, I don't mean to be mean but some people just intentionally seek reasons to be pissed and offended. I guess some people find drama cathartic.
Reactions are a good thing, in my opinion. Imagine that every reaction under every post here is transformed into a short meaningless post: "I agree", "yeah, same", "here's a hug", "aw that's sad" etc. and you'll realize that any meaningful posts would get drowned in this fluff and it would be borderline impossible to have an actual discussion in a thread.