I hate the funny button as a dismissive, insulting comment on a serious post. I don't use it that way and it pisses me off when others do. If you aren't willing to make a comment to disagree/disapprove, just move on. You don't need to reply to it. Until we get a button that would more accurately reflect how we felt about it. The funny button should be for stuff that makes us laugh, but not in a mean way.
I agree.
But many members are now using the "funny" button as an insult. Saying, in effect, "your post is pure crap". And they're doing it because it's a simple, quick way to show their disagreement with a posted comment. Because it's being widely used (and understood) in that way I find myself sometimes using it that way, too. So the "funny" button has become a point of confusion.
For instance, when I read a post by a member whose political leanings are not known to me, and the post has several "funny" ratings, I now have to click the 'list' button next to the "funny" emoji in order to see who clicked the "funny" button — that's the only way to understand what they meant when they clicked the "funny" button. Only by comparing the political slant of the post to the names in the list who clicked "funny" can one finally understand the clickers' meaning.
Now, if we had the "Get Serious" button I'm suggesting, it would be a simple matter to look at the number of members who used it to get some guage of how the opposition feels about that particular post. Granted it wouldn't be very accurate, but using the "funny" button to show disagreement is ridiculous (but we can't stop people from doing it). Then the "funny" button could go back to being used only to indicate that someone found the post amusing.
It doesn't seem like this issue would be worth all this effort and time, but right now the "funny" button is confusing rather than helpful. Not good for a forum built to discuss politics.
