The problem was people (including management) wanting to talk about where and how to put emojis once we added a few. The less I have to talk to management the better.

All those small discussions were essentially pointless and they happened often enough that I was getting annoyed by them.

Like, sometimes we would be showing "in development" stuff to clients and then they would interrupt and mention something like "nice rocketship emoji" and I am like "can you just focus on what I am showing you"

It sounds like people really liked the emojis

This is actually selling me on using emojis

People like novelty and engage on things they feel they can contribute an opinion on.

Been on many a demo in the past where all sorts of "magical" and complicated stuff is happening that ends up with "ooh I've never seen a date picker like that" or "wouldn't it be a lot better if it was blue and not red".

Often it's because they accept the other stuff is working or don't even fully remember what the demo is about.

> All those small discussions were essentially pointless

Were they pointless, or were they positive feedback about a thing you personally disliked?

You're doing the thing he was trying to avoid. You want to have a discussion about this hypothetical emoji and make a bunch of statements about the psychology of the person who doesn't want to waste his life on it. Nothing like being accused of not liking "fun" when you don't want to do something useless at work.

Maybe not everybody likes goofy emojis, or Harry Potter references, or whatever easy nothing passes as wit for some people, and they think it makes everything less professional and introduces unnecessary maintenance. Those people have to make the choice to shut up about it, or mention it and have somebody tell them they're joyless.

edit: irt 418, it's historical and it has already imposed most of its maintenance burden. But using it when you're not a teapot is forcing the meme.

As a former engineering manager: no, I don't want to have a discussion about the hypothetical emoji. I want the engineer to put a rocketship in their commit message to have a slightly brighter day, and I want to acknowledge that someone else made a positive comment about it.

If you are genuinely at the point in your life where "people saying they like things" is the same as ... what you're describing ... please be aware of the emotional impact you're having on the people around you.

Because nothing brightens an engineer's day like putting rocketship emojis in commit messages

We need to talk about your flair.

Now, it’s up to you whether or not you just want to do the minimum.

But look at Brian over there! He has 4, sometimes 5 emojis in his commit messages! And a terrific smile…

possible reference to https://youtu.be/F7SNEdjftno?si=HgwhGPbwL8U8deOo

it wasn't about putting emojis in commit messages, it was about putting them in the application

If they had not been paying attention to what you were showing them, then how would they have noticed the emoji?

Work parties. Worst thing ever.