I'm conflicted about my stance on it.
On one hand, I'd say to keep reactions so that people in this forum wouldn't feel like they're being ignored when no one is replying to them.
On the other hand, there's the problem that having reactions here causes the same problems that social media has these days in which people see the amount of likes/follows/etc. they have as a measure of their self-worth and validation. That along with possible misunderstanding where the person giving a certain reaction may unintentionally rub some people off.
I would hope the amount of reactions doesn’t equate self worth.
Instagram exacerbated the problem when they took away thumbs up and changed it to hearts. No more “thumbs up I like this”…. No, now it’s “I love this. I love you”. Which creates a sense of belonging, acceptance, and delivery of love that real people might not be giving.
There’s a range of nuance in response here (MR) which is pretty great. You can create a better sense of genuine connection with a range of responses OTHER THAN a dichotomous “I love this/you” or “silence/nothing/ignoring”.
At least with a thumbs down, sad face, or angry face, there’s a genuine response without a written explanation that you can tell is from a real person. And, there is a nuance between “I like this” and “I REALLY like this” with the thumbs up and heart, leading to more genuine responses.
