they are zero effort/lazy. If there is no lazy interaction option you are forced to engage (reply, share, send value), or ignore. Just the existence of the reaction diminishes real engagement
Discussion
Are you not worried that people might choose to ignore rather than engage, and that a signal between creators and their audience might end up being lost. It's an acknowledgement, even when you have nothing to add.
I believe the reactions signal is actively harmful to content creators. It doesn’t signal if the content has any value. Only zaps can do that. Anyone can spam reactions with a bot
Hrm, ok.
Yea, but it's still a valuable feedback mechanism in a WoT scenario, for example.
Agree that it doesn't signal whether the content has a specific monetary value to the reader. But anecdotally (for what that's worth) I (have observed that others) don't assign a monetary value to things that make them laugh, for example. It could be a hangover from the current cultural paradigm, where content is assumed to be free, but I think it might be a little more complicated than that. I think people may get value from content and not even realise they have. And that is different to reading a piece of content, learning something new, and making that connection between the content and the value in it.
Anyway, I see where you're going. It'll be an interesting experiment I guess.
That's why I would fade out all reactions (or comments) from people more than 2 hops away in my web of follows. Anyone can spam replies with a bot, too.
But a 🫂 or a 👍 is way better than no reaction at all when it comes from a frend.