Reporting and banning offensive emojis

hollowtrucker77 said:hiddenotter98, look, I think the real move here would be to actually kick off a fresh topic or maybe dive into something we haven't even touched yet, rather than just sitting here endlessly rehashing the exact same old tired arguments over and over again.
I mean, is it actually legal to walk into a store and buy a kitchen knife?
And if you do, does having that knife give you some kind of green light to go around stabbing people with it?
Does the fact that you can legally purchase a chef's knife somehow imply that using it to puncture someone is perfectly fine?
...

I don't have a new question.
I simply wanted to point out that one should be cautious with censorship—it ought to be avoided unless absolutely necessary...

Even I have been insulted occasionally, though as long as it doesn't veer into extremes, I can overlook it. It's just a discussion.
I haven't reported anyone, though once, after waiting a while, I did ask if a user would be penalized for calling me stupid... I never received an answer.

In short, I'll step back so as not to stretch this thread any further.

For matters that aren't black and white—those left to the eye of the beholder—I suggest we allow some tolerance...

Take care, and my apologies again for reviving this thread...

Lisa Hernandez3 said:Furthermore, I suppose it’s also fine to cook them or put them over a fire while you're already in the kitchen. 😳

A few impressions and potential ratings (based on contexts I've seen):

☕ is often used when someone is just trolling through topics—sending a message to provoke or being somewhat authoritarian, though less frequently; it can be quite irritating in that sense

🤦 is perhaps the greatest evil among emojis because it's so often (wrongly) used to automatically belittle or discredit an interlocutor—it's highly debatable in itself

😵 feels like an unnecessary display of disagreement, especially if the argument is already clear enough

🙂 directed at someone else, it's like a tiny death for dialogue; in certain contexts, it really doesn't require any further communication

🙂 this one is, unfortunately, a signature for some people, even though it can actually be quite charming

🙂 this one comes off as very arrogant, though maybe tolerable

🙂 is quite controversial, particularly among intellectuals of the opposite sex

I've mentioned some of these just in jest, since I've had my fair share of pleasant situations involving them. Determining whether an emoji-heavy post deserves a trip to the ban corner really depends on the overall meaning of the post regarding the topic at hand. I guess malice and the destruction of a discussion are usually visible through more data than just a single emoji. That said, jumping into a thread primarily with emoji-only posts is probably enough to qualify for a ban on its own. An Asshole emoji should, by rule, only be used in chat with someone you know well enough on the forum; that would be the easiest type to ban. The "gunshot" emojis we have here are actually quite benign, and they seem harder to misuse for actual vendettas against people with different opinions.

Man, all these emojis are just hilarious to me 😂! My friends and I on the forum use them constantly during discussions. No sane person would think to take them as a direct insult, since they are essentially very friendly 🤷. If someone perceives them differently, they are simply being oversensitive, plain and simple. Otherwise, I love emojis. I use them frequently in communication, depending on the context and the topic at hand!

Come on, let's not act like we're clueless here 🤷.
- Obviously, those emojis up there feel playful when you're just joking around with friends.
- But they're clearly offensive when you're dealing with "enemies."

Nobody on this forum is a child; we all know how to tell if words or emojis are meant as a joke or an insult based on the context.
At the end of the day, it doesn't even matter what the "author intended" to say. What matters is how the person receiving the message felt. If they felt insulted, then it was an insult—period.

Saint Peter, just lock it up 😬!

mellowlynx68 said:Come on, let's not act like we're clueless here 🤷.
- Obviously, those emojis up there feel playful when you're just joking around with friends.
- But they're clearly offensive when you're dealing with "enemies."

Nobody on this forum is a child; we all know how to tell if words or emojis are meant as a joke or an insult based on the context.
At the end of the day, it doesn't even matter what the "author intended" to say. What matters is how the person receiving the message felt. If they felt insulted, then it was an insult—period.

Saint Peter, just lock it up 😬!

I fully agree with everything you said👍(or didn't🤔... sorry, I didn't check your profile details😂)! I don't see any point in debating this either, but there are all kinds of people out there... 😂