It appears on the OP of topics in product categories and not in categories like the Steinberg Lounge
To say I have, want, hate or love the same thing as the OP about an issue or topic. The emojis have been expanded too, and we can applaud, love, support in several ways what someone said.
Each of discourse’s clients (in this case Steinberg) can customize their platform to their liking. There are many more emojis available on discourse. Steinberg deliberatly picked the ones we see right now. Have you noticed - there are no negative emojis available like a thumbs down. I guess that they did this on purpose to support a positive atmosphere.
The emoji associated with confetti balls - there’s an ongoing discussion if that’s really what they are: