I think that’s a matter of context — which often includes the broader culture of the site. On Talk TW, I would universally assume it was sincere. On more toxic sites (I hesitate to call them “communities”) like Youtube or Twitter, I’d give 
at least 50/50 odds of being ironic.
Right. Cultural & Personal diffs too.
Much of the net thrives on liminal meanings in emojis, badges, avatars etc.
Rarely does anyone actually investigate what users believe they mean.
One prod at it and you’ll see the huge diversity.
Same thing. Watching, anticipating. Possibly nervously. Possibly with joy.
Essentially deferred.
Na. The Horror.
Surely that’s 
?
(
)
Yes in upright palm forward position.
I was also thinking of “cosi cosi” in Italy which means “so so”; “neither this nor that”. Indicated by a twisting flat hand gesture.
None of them have intrinsic meanings.
That plasticity itself interests me.
We likely have different thresholds.
I completely agree with your perspective, @Mario. Downvoting without explanation often feels unnecessarily harsh and discourages constructive dialogue. Taking the time to explain why you disagree promotes understanding and respect, which is far more valuable than a silent negative vote. Ignoring posts you don’t like is a respectful approach, and expressing emotions through reactions can convey feelings without aggression. Your viewpoint supports a healthier, more thoughtful community interaction.
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This forum is much more personal than YouTube. I think users here can assume, since there are usually responses, that silence is either an uncommited response or else an implicit downvote. Silence is bad enough. Downvotes would feel personal.
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You are right. I am always happy to see, that a new user, after interacting for some time with the community, adds a more personal avatar to their account.
Some users even request an account “name change”, which can only be done by @admins. Usually sending a private post to @admins.
I think this shows great trust in the community. I like that.
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Ya know, if I see thumbs down now I’m just going to start giggling about this lol
I say if we ever use it it should be for a positive use, like we take a page from the ancient romans and make the thumbs down a symbol for keeping something around 
=“keep the post going!”
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Reading through this thread made me remember about Indiana pi bill - Wikipedia
Life was much simpler when netizens were managing to communicate using only
:)
:(
:D
:>
and in extremely rare cases
.!..
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…which leads to ..!!! and on to !!!!!, then !!1!!!11!!! and finally the ultimate form of !!!!1!!eleven!!!
Do we really need to invite the exclamation mark event horizon into our lives? 
Oh, there are a lot more: :-) ;-) q:) :p X-) :)) :o) :-/ :/ &-) %-) and more. See: Emoticon - Wikipedia where still not all are listed.
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It might be helpful if we were to try turning the whole question around. Let’s ask: why don’t we have a variety of thumbs down icons and do away with the positive ones? Things like: Nah! NotSoMuch CompletelyDisagree Boo NoWay! You’reWayOff You’reOutOfLine Don’tYouEverPostAgain
I would prefer the Thumbs Up icons. For myself and the whole community.
I believe what you did here sounds like Reductio ad Absurdum. Well done, fairly earned 
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