That's interesting. In my testing, about half the participants liked them, one didn't, and the rest didn't express a strong preference.
I kept them because they make me smile.
>I kept them because they make me smile.
But isn't the whole point to make your users smile? No one but you cares if YOU smile.
To me it’s similar to what you wrote about the jokes you removed: the emojis are distracting and not actually fun. This use of emojis comes across as a tired meme. It’s better if the project makes people smile due to its intrinsic qualities like working well and doing what they want.