"respect" and "agree" vs "like" (and other ideal reaction options)

[wolftune]

Opened ops issue for the retort plugin: https://git.snowdrift.coop/sd/ops/issues/8

[iko]

@wolftune

I don’t know that thumb’s-up is the best icon for the primary “agree” item, but it’s certainly better than a heart which I want to reserve for expressing that sort of emotion/empathy.

The thumbs-up can be changed. It’s from Font Awesome, so if someone wants to look at options and suggest a different one, I can swap it if people really like a different one.

[wolftune]

The handshake icons actually fit “agree” very well but have a different connotation than thumb’s-up. I think it’s best to just leave it as is with the latter in place.

[wolftune]

Okay, so:

• Apparently, retort just brings up the same emoji list that we get by starting to type : here in a comment, it just breaks it into a reaction thing that doesn’t have to be in a new comment.
• Since emojis have names at least, we can sort of use those along with the symbol to have some meaning
• maybe we can edit the emojis or the names of them (or request such functionality)
• maybe we set up a limited set of reactions that we want to emphasize
• maybe we create some guide as to how we want our set of reactions to be used and interpreted

@smichel17

Acknowledge(d) — When I don’t want to take up space to let someone know I saw their comment.

Example of where I’d have used this.

Excite(d/ment) () or Thank Appreciate () — I have used these on github before in response to “this is now implemented”.

Example of where I’d have used this.

Second example, which I might also express Interest in or Respect for.

Interest(ed) — But maybe this overlaps with “Agree”

Confus(ed/ion) — But maybe this is something people should write out why they’re confused

Along with those and tl;dr, I like the suggestion (got from Sam Harris) of: this changed my mind or similar reaction (as he says, it would be superb in general to have that used, emphasized, and such posts promoted in social media in general).

[smichel17]

@wolftune

maybe we set up a limited set of reactions that we want to emphasize

Strongly agree. Having the whole emoji list for reactions (like gitlab) is overwhelming to me compared to a limited set (like github). According to the retort plugin, it is possible to limit emojis that appear.

@wolftune

maybe we can edit the emojis or the names of them (or request such functionality)

I would like to be able to do this. It’s not currently easy to do (may be possible with difficulty).

[wolftune]

Update: we have settled on

appreciate

Incidentally, the typically non-transitive definition of “appreciate” is to increase in value which fits with upvote, +1, etc. but the primary meaning is recognition of value, simply expressing thanks/gratitude/acknowledement. So, that makes it about the best and most neutral term.

In contrast: “like” and “love” only work naturally for positive posts, “agree” doesn’t work for posts like introductions or questions or for acknowledging things you don’t agree with, and “respect” was very close to appreciate but has stranger personal connotations and is too strong to use widely (and yet not respecting something feels worse than not appreciating).

So: GO FORTH AND APPRECIATE THINGS!

Note: if any of the text or context around appreciation seems odd, post about it, and we can tweak the wording as needed.

We’ve also added the Retort plugin will be adding custom emojis soon to offer a set of other reactions beyond “appreciate”.