AI-generated summary
A discussion is underway about whether emoticons should count toward the post character minimum. AdamCapriola thinks they shouldnāt, citing instances of users making posts with only emoticons to bypass the 20 character requirement. Frank agrees, believing it prevents āforum silliness.ā However, gerhard and sam argue that itās not a bug and that moderators should handle misuse instead. gerhard also questions the effectiveness of character minimums altogether.
AdamCapriola reiterates that emoticons arenāt substantial content, while codinghorror uses an analogy about locking doors to suggest that determined users will find ways around the requirement. sam believes that addressing this issue is a game of āwhack a moleā and that each additional heuristic is a feature.
elberet suggests a possible solution using code, and sam responds with a creative example of how users can bypass detection. elberet acknowledges the creativity but argues that the current system only re-trains lazy users to type more emoticons instead of encouraging them to post meaningful content.
1 Curtiu
(Iāve had users make posts exactly like that to skirt past the 20 character requirement. Itās annoying.)
I agree with this. Better to stop forum silliness before it gets out of hand and clutter up your categories.
I wouldnāt classify this as a bug. Others thinks so too.
Sometimes an emoji is enough. Why would you want to prohibit posting of one?
If someone misuses it than you should use your moderator powers or flag the post. 
Just my 2 cents.
If :) :p isnāt enough to meet the 20-character threshold, 
shouldnāt either.
Well, Iām no fan of minimum character requirements anyway. Someone always finds a way around them anyway, so why enforce them in the first place? But thatās another topicā¦
Why lock the front door to your house? A determined enough criminal will get in no matter whatā¦
It doesnāt take criminal intent to bypass this, itās more like Dennis the Menace noticing your spare key sticking out from underneath the doormat. (āHey Mr. Wilson!ā)
Emoticons are not substantial content. I know there are plenty of other ways to bypass 20 characters, but this one is pretty blatant.
2 Curtiram
Still this is whack a mole. I donāt really consider this a bug. Where do you stop. Rogue unicode? Single image?
Each one of these additional heuristics is really a feature.
<!-- cooked.gsub(/<[^>]*>/gm,'').length should be good enough. ā>
2 Curtiram
eĢĢ ĶĢĶĶĢĶ ĢĢ ĶĢĢĶĢĶĢĶĢĶĢæĢĶĢĶĶĶĢĶĶĶĢĢĢĢĢĢĢĶĢĢĶĢĢ
2 Curtiram
Nice.
However, as an argument, it slightly misses the mark, because it illustrates creativity, wit and purpose. Those users wonāt ever get stopped by an automated detection, short of plugging SHODAN into Discourse.
On the other hand, as it stands, the merely lazy are simply being re-trained to type in two smileys instead of being deterred or taught to post at least a full sentenceā¦ and thatās a bit of a shame.
1 Curtiu