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Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

neilzone.co.uk

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Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#351

Post by 9dev »

usr1106 wrote: post #320
lupusreal wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using reactions in chat apps is popular but I've never seen it have any practical purpose. I think the reason Microsoft added it to Outlook is obvious though, because it's popular in chat apps so somebody at Microsoft decided their old boring thing should have the popular new thing, because that would be good for their career.

In our company we work a lot remotely and everyone is in chat when working hour. Emojis are used a lot. It's much less disturbing if n people give a thumbs up to acknowledge a message instead of everyone typing a new message "OK". Especially when they read hours later.Also "working on it" is common if someone reports a problem. Additionally emojis serves a social purpose. Instead of chatting in the office kitchen the…

Same for us. If I write in the general channel that I will be five minutes late for the meeting, I don’t need everyone to say, „okay, thanks for letting us know“, a simple thumbs up from someone is enough to know at least one person has read this and will inform the rest, if necessary. And that goes for a lot of situations - I’m gonna deploy, looking at this bug now, just ping me if you need help… all of those messages don’t warrant a full reply, just a short token of acknowledgement or appreciation is enough and doesn’t force you to come up with a polite string of words that do the same thing, but more verbose.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#352

Post by artinmg »

psunavy03 wrote: post #295
artinmg wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although it seems the military metaphor of Two Generals' Problem which I assume you're referencing is incidental, it's ironic that in the actual military all communication from superior to subordinate must be acknowledged perfunctorily, at least in very disciplined services like the United States Marine Corps. For example, if a sergeant says to a private "It's a nice day outside.", the private is obliged to respond,…

If this is a thing (never saw it in 20 years of active and reserve Navy service), it must be limited not just to the Marine Corps, but the ground side of the Corps, not the air side. Sure, there's norms around how you talk on the radio, standing watch on the bridge, on chat channels for command and control, etc. But the rest of the time, the rest of the military talks to each other more or less like normal people wit…

Well there you go, I was ground side Marine Corps for four years. No comment from a superior can pass unacknowledged. Indeed we view the air wing as a place where standards are lax and you live an easier life.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#354

Post by prepend »

jeroenhd wrote: post #187
BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, reactions serve as a fast signal for “acknowledged” that spares me having to see a new email that says “Ok”.

I think read receipts may be a better solution for what most people seem to use the reaction buttons for. Then again, I don't really care either way. I can see the value of email reactions, but that does require clients to build in support for the standard. The text fallback also isn't great, I'd much rather they'd sendan email with nothing but the emoji than "person X reacted to your message". I suppose this is more…

Reading an email doesn’t mean accepting an email.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#355

Post by viraptor »

JohnFen wrote: post #273
viraptor wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All it means is that I won't see the reactions. That's my loss. I'm not forcing anyone else to do anything differently. "Are we ok doing ...?" (People reacting with :+1:) Now you have to figure out if you're being ignored or people don't have an answer. You ask them again directly, which they may also simply react to. By bothering them again, you are asking them to do things differently for you.

Well, nobody I know would respond to such a question with a reaction (an emoji, yes, a reaction, no), so this is not an issue in my crowd. I suppose (and it's obvious now that I think about it) this depends on what the social norms are in your group. > By bothering them again, you are asking them to do things differently for you. To a trivial degree, sure. Why is it OK for others to ask me to do things differently in…

> Why is it OK for others to ask me to do things differently in this regard and not for me to ask them to do things differently anyway?

It's ok either way. But it was you who claimed you don't request changes. We live in a society and all that. We can collaborate and agree on the way we communicate in groups.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#356

Post by shiroiushi »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #316
shiroiushi wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slack should add an option to disable reactions for people like this. However, since the sender is expecting their reaction to be seen, Slack should then replace the reaction with a text message matching the reaction: "Ok emoji", "Thumbs up emoji", "Smile face emoji", etc. so that the reaction doesn't just disappear and the intended recipient sees it.

I have a strong feeling that the type of person who hates reactions is going to hate this even more, but maybe that's just me.

Yeah, that's kinda the idea. But I'm worried about preserving messaging integrity: if you just let that person set an option to never see reactions at all, then his coworkers will be sending reactions which he won't see, which will probably lead to conflicts ("why didn't you acknowledge that you saw my message?" "I did! I sent a thumbs-up!" "I've disabled reactions, so you need to type out these acknowledgements to me." "Fuck that!" -> HR has to get involved)

Basically, the anti-reactions people are going to be angry no matter what, because the rest of the world isn't doing messaging the way they want.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#357

Post by g15jv2dp »

JohnFen wrote: post #286
g15jv2dp wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case you haven't realized, you're the odd one out, today, in 2024. I don't mean this in a negative way - I just mean that you're out of what's usual.

I always wonder about these "you're in the minority" responses. Why is that an important point? Also, pretty much everybody on HN is "in the minority". We're a pretty narrow demographic compared to the general population.

It's an important point when the discussion revolves around "reactions aren't part of email culture" etc. Sorry for the "power users" but... email culture includes HTML, reactions and so on, today, in 2024.

And part of what irritates me shows up in your answer. This feeling of superiority of being in the "in-group" that seeps out.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#358

Post by g15jv2dp »

nocman wrote: post #329
g15jv2dp wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case you haven't realized, you're the odd one out, today, in 2024. I don't mean this in a negative way - I just mean that you're out of what's usual.

Do you genuinely think the GP needs you to point that out to them? I can't think of a single person I know that uses a text-only email client (and yes, I know more than one of them) who isn't what you'd call a "power user". All of them know that most people don't use a plain-text email client, they just prefer to use one themselves.

When someone responds to "email culture has embraced reactions" with "look at me, I'm special, I use a text-only email client," yes, it's appropriate to remind them that indeed, it's not at all the norm and in the end they're just complaining about a niche pet peeve.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#359

Post by SoftTalker »

g15jv2dp wrote: post #199
SoftTalker wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone embraced it. I still use a plain-text email client.

In case you haven't realized, you're the odd one out, today, in 2024. I don't mean this in a negative way - I just mean that you're out of what's usual.

Oh of course, I know that. There are few of us left, but I still look at modern email, full of fonts and images and needless copying of the entire thread on every reply, and I say "No. This is ridiculous, and I decline to participate."

The idea of "reactions" to email is, to me, silly and unnecessary.

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