Dead people, refugees in rubber boats? Forest fires that point to climate problems? Lauterbach, who warns of a third wave? Why are there laughing emojis under serious topics like these?

Are these topics really funny enough for anyone to laugh at? No. These topics are by no means funny. On the contrary, they are very serious. They are so serious that they also have a high level of social relevance.

But you will probably have often seen people leave a laughing emoji on Facebook under these and similar topics. In most cases this is intentional and not because someone made a mistake.

Because there is a strategy behind these laughing emojis. It is a very bitter strategy that can be described quite simply.

Laughing emojis are ridiculing

The laughter emojis left are intended to simply ridicule important social issues. They should leave an impact on the outside world. They are intended to symbolize to those who really think these important topics are important that the topics are supposedly rather ridiculous and silly.

These symbols are intended to devalue not only the important topic, but also the people who care about the topic. Basically a perfidious tactic that can be observed on almost all socially relevant topics on social media.

This is also the reason why the laughing emoji on Facebook has been repeatedly criticized in the past. Back in October 2019, political consultant Erik Flügge took a closer look at the strategy behind the HAHA smileys (as he calls them). These smileys are deliberately intended to put certain topics, but also commentators in the discussion columns, in a bad light.

Flügge even goes one step further and analyzed the profiles that deliberately put a laughing emoji under serious topics. Flügge writes about this:

If you look at who is putting the HAHA smilies, even though there is actually nothing to laugh about, you almost always end up on profiles with a very similar structure. Above is a car or motorcycle as the cover photo. Alternatively, a pet or a landscape. Most of the time there is no face in the profile picture or one that is difficult to recognize. If you scroll down a little bit, you'll notice that this profile mostly shares some kind of right-wing propaganda. A rogue who thinks of a fake profile.

But I wouldn't just talk about fake profiles, but now also about an element that is deliberately used symbolically and strategically. Essentially, it's about manipulating important issues and trying to intimidate the people who care about these issues.

It therefore makes sense not to be impressed and manipulated by the laughter emoji reactions. These are deliberately set to discredit.

That could also be of interest

Antenne Thuringia, mouthwash solutions and censorship: What's it? A text is being spread on messengers and also on Facebook about a post from Antenne Thüringen and mouthwash solutions. Continue reading …

Laughter emojis, article image: Shutterstock / By rvlsoft / Mimikama


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Notes:
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