User story 12: As a user, I want to send a reaction in a message so that I can express my feelings quickly and interact with others in a fun and lightweight way.

[aalmuhan]

Description:
Users should be able to react to any message with emojis. This allows users to engage with content without needing to type a full response. Each message should display the number and type of reactions received.
Justification:
Ranked twelfth because while it enhances engagement and user experience, it’s not essential for core communication. It becomes more valuable as user activity increases and community-building features grow.
Impact:
Medium - encourages user interaction and builds community engagement, making the platform feel more dynamic and social.
Effort:
Medium - Requires UI updates, message database modifications, and possible real-time updates (e.g., using websockets) to show reactions live.
Backend:

• Add a reactions field to message schema -- for example: {"👍": 3, "😂": 1}
• Create endpoints to add or remove a reaction from a message.
• Ensure users can only react once with each emoji.
  Frontend:
• Display emoji reactions under each message.
• Allow users to tap/click to add/remove their reaction.