Special icons are usually supplied by a special icon font that is downloaded from the server (@font-face) You may see little boxes with the hex code of the character if you do not have a font installed that covers this Unicode range or are blocking downloadable fonts.

You can check gfx.downloadable_fonts.enabled on the about:config page and make sure it is set to true (if necessary double-click the line to toggle its value to true). You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config

If you use extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) that can block (wanted) content (Adblock Plus, NoScript, Ghostery, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin) always make sure such extensions do not block (wanted) content.

• make sure your extensions and filters are updated to the latest version

There is Tracking Protection that can block (wanted) content, so check the location/address bar for special icons.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tracking-protection-firefox

ty yes! it was ublock origin! weird that it doesn't do that on chrome! thank you so much for the insanely fast response!

You're welcome