# the "thank you" reaction



## güey

Hello there!
I wanted to ask if it doesn't sound a little rude on these forums to not say "thank you" for contributions to your post, but just use this reaction 🙏 instead.


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## elroy

I can’t speak for others, of course. I don’t find it rude, and I don’t *think* most others do either.


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## Peterdg

I don't find it rude at all.

You can at least say that you get a thankful reaction, which,  unfortunately, is not always the case.


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## Awwal12

Actually this reaction icon exists precisely to allow one to say thanks without multiplying non-informative posts.


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## Paulfromitaly

güey said:


> Hello there!
> I wanted to ask if it doesn't sound a little rude on these forums to not say "thank you" for contributions to your post, but just use this reaction 🙏 instead.


Certainly not, although some users may still favour a written "thank you" over a reaction.
Rude is not being bothered to say "Hello",  "please" and "thank you" and yet demand people's help.


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## User With No Name

Awwal12 said:


> Actually this reaction icon exists precisely to allow one to say thanks without multiplying non-informative posts.


That's my understanding. And I rather like it.

More problematic is the other extreme: I notice that once in a while some very polite soul will will post a separate message thanking each individual person who has responded to their query. Now, politeness is great and all, so I hate to criticize, but that really isn't helpful.


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## güey

User With No Name said:


> That's my understanding. And I rather like it.
> 
> More problematic is the other extreme: I notice that once in a while some very polite soul will will post a separate message thanking each individual person who has responded to their query. Now, politeness is great and all, so I hate to criticize, but that really isn't helpful.


If it's just simple thank yous without going into excessiveness, why not?🙂

Also, would it look rude if one did not "🙏" (i e just ignored) someone replying to their language question whose answer they consider not helpful or incorrect? Would it be better to just  "🙏" all contributors regardless?


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## elroy

güey said:


> If it's just simple thank yous without going into excessiveness, why not?🙂


The concatenation of thank-you posts is itself excessive.



güey said:


> Also, would it look rude if one did not "🙏" (i e just ignored) someone replying to their language question whose answer they consider not helpful or incorrect? Would it be better to just  "🙏" all contributors regardless?


I’ve seen both.
Some people thank everyone regardless, while others are selective and only thank people whose input they truly found helpful.
The latter is more informative, but it can risk offending people who don’t get thanked.


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## nizzebro

To me, the only issue with this icon is that when you see it the first time, it looks pretty ambiguous (maybe it's only my personal perverted vision, though)


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## Awwal12

I'm even afraid to ask. To me it looks more like hands connected in a prayer or in the directly connected gesture of pleading, but if it's "thank you", so be it.


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## güey

Awwal12 said:


> I'm even afraid to ask. To me it looks more like hands connected in a prayer or in the directly connected gesture of pleading, but if it's "thank you", so be it.


I have such a feeling, too. In Telegram, by the way, the same emoji is called "pray."


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## Sowka

I show a Thank-you  Reaction only to those posts that I find particularly helpful. And I'm not offended if someone doesn't give a Thank-you reaction to one of my posts: My explanation may just not be as good as other explanations given, and I can learn to give better explanations by looking at the replies that received a reaction.

We all are here to learn, and to help each other learn.


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## Sowka

Sowka said:


> I show a Thank-you  Reaction only to those posts that I find particularly helpful.


I have to add that this applies to threads that I didn't start. I rarely start new threads; I learn a lot from reading existing threads. And in these comparably "old" threads, I react with "thank you" to those posts I find helpful.

When I start a new thread, on the other hand, I tend to thank everyone for their effort.


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## güey

Sowka said:


> When I start a new thread, on the other hand, I tend to thank everyone for their effort.


That is what I feel like, too!


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## machadinho

We could thank everyone who answered with a  , and then quote the best answer in reply with a .


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## pimlicodude

güey said:


> Hello there!
> I wanted to ask if it doesn't sound a little rude on these forums to not say "thank you" for contributions to your post, but just use this reaction 🙏 instead.


I was sent a PM by someone on the Russian forum asking me not to send any more "thank you" posts, as he was constantly summoned to the forum by a notification, only to find a contentless post. So I now thank all the posters via the icon designed for that purpose.


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## elroy

machadinho said:


> and then quote the best answer in reply with a


The person who asked is rarely in a position to determine which answer is best.  Often a good answer will get a number of  reactions (in busy forums), which I think is great recognition.

I have to say I don't care much for gratuitous 🙏 reactions, but at the end of the day, it _is_ nice to be thanked, so it doesn't bother me _that_ much.


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## swift

pimlicodude said:


> I was sent a PM by someone on the Russian forum asking me not to send any more "thank you" posts


It’s amazing to see how people get away with that kind of entitlement. Who do they think they are? Why on earth are they policing other people’s good manners?


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## pimlicodude

swift said:


> It’s amazing to see how people get away with that kind of entitlement. Who do they think they are? Why on earth are they policing other people’s good manners?


Well, he was just pointing out what would be more co-operative behaviour on the forum. No offence was intended or taken.


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## swift

The forum software enables users to turn off email notifications. Appreciation notes annoy you? Use the built-in features instead of discouraging politeness and appreciation.


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## merquiades

swift said:


> The forum software enables users to turn off email notifications. Appreciation notes annoy you? Use the built-in features instead of discouraging politeness and appreciation.


Exactly.  I turned off all email notifications ages ago so as not to be bothered.  That is what he should have done instead of preaching to others how they should answer.


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## Trisia

I remember they were added to help declutter threads. In the short run it's lovely to see people be polite, for future users I suppose it's easier to pinpoint the correct answers when we use reactions in lieu of agreement/thank you posts.

When on my phone, however, they turn out to be a major headache at times since my screen doesn't always cooperate and I end up either unable to react, or find that I've taken back my reaction when in fact I was trying to click the post window (happened _again_ less than fifteen minutes ago).

I find the high-five/thank you/pleading  emoji mystery very entertaining in general, and doubly adorable on a language forum where we can get very fussy about precise _word_ meanings and interpretations based on socio-cultural context.


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