As someone who is new to these forums...what is the problem here?
What is wrong with just reading and clicking laugh or xp?
What am I missing here?
Allow me to add that the laugh button's label was quite recently tweaked to say what it says currently: "Laugh with this post".
This change came about since several users (including me) felt that the function could be (ab)used to bully your fellow posters, exactly in the manner described by the OP.
While the intentions of Morrus and Co were never in question (I completely understand the Laugh functionality has always been offered as a solely positive way for the community to interact), the old phrasing did not make it sufficiently clear how a Laugh click could be interpreted, since "laughing at" is at best ambiguous in the English language.
Laugh
with is much more clear. Although, as this thread shows, the issue is still not entirely resolved.
However, now that the moderation team is aware that the Laugh button could be (ab)used, I am confident the OPs concerns will be handled properly.
Clicking the Laugh button was, unfortunately, previously interpreted as something as wholly and only positive, in a rather naive/oblivious way if you ask me. As you can see from this thread, even if the moderation is now onboard, this sentiment is still present, and, frankly, it needs to go away.
You
have to put it in context: if I were to hound you and repeatedly click Laugh for posts of yours
that aren't clearly having a joke in them somewhere (implicitly or explicitly), that is obvious grounds for a closer moderation look, I think.
Example: If I were to post a straight-faced statement such as "I believe the 5E Fighter is underoverpowered." there is no way to "laugh with" such a post. Anyone that clicks Laugh for this post, and that has clicked Laugh for previous non-lighthearted posts, should have a mod look over the behavior, in my opinion.