Facebook Has Rolled Out 5 New Reactions Buttons
A big change on Facebook: the Social Network built alternatives to its trademark ”like” button, and has globally launched emoji “Reactions.”
Users can still respond to a post or comment with the traditional “like” button. But starting February 24, 2016, users are allowed to choose from six different animated emoji “Reactions”: Like, Love, Haha, Wow Sad or Angry. “Reactions” are designed to be an extension of the “like” button as opposed to a full-on replacement. Users will be notified when their posts receive ”Reactions” in the same way they’re notified about “likes.”
Facebook said in its latest blog post that it wanted to give users more authentic ways to quickly and easily respond to posts, whether they are sad, serious, funny or happy”:
News Feed is the central way you can get updates about your friends, family and anything else that matters to you, and the central place to have conversations with the people you care about. We’ve been listening to people and know that there should be more ways to easily and quickly express how something you see in News Feed makes you feel.
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The new reactions appear when you hover over Like on a PC, or hold it down on mobile or tablet.
Last September, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly announced the company’s push to expand emoji past the “like” option.
“Not every moment is a good moment, right? And if you are sharing something that’s sad, like whether it’s something in current events like the refugee crisis that touches you, or a family member passed away, then it may not be comfortable to ‘like’ that post,” Zuckerberg said in a public Q&A.
Why those choices?
Facebook went through comments on friends’ posts, as well as emoji-like stickers people were using. It chose the most common ones and tested those. Facebook considered dozens of reactions but offering them all would have been confusing.
The firm ultimately chose these six reactions for their universal appeal – something that could be understood around the world. The emojis will look the same around the world, but phrases such as Angry, Love etc will be translated
“We heard from people that they wanted more ways to express themselves on Facebook,” said Facebook product manager Sammi Krug. “When people come to Facebook, they share all kinds of different things, things that make them sad, things that make them happy, thought-provoking, angry. We kept hearing from people that they didn’t have a way to express empathy.”
Previously, “Reactions” were available in only seven countries: Ireland, Spain, Chile, the Philippines, Portugal, Colombia and Japan. Krug said results from those countries have been highly positive. Individual users are using “Reactions” more and more frequently. In Spain, for example, people’s use of “Reactions” has doubled since October. Love has been the most popular “Reaction” across countries so far.
New Facebook Reactions User Guide – Social Person’s Manual
LIKE
Intended purpose:
General approval; liking something.
Other uses:
Reminding someone of your existence.
LOVE
Intended purpose:
When like just isn’t enough; flirting.
Other uses:
Unnerving your concerned friends by Loving every single post on your girlfriend’s Facebook profile, even those published a decade before you two met.
HAHA
Intended purpose:
When something is funny.
Other uses:
Communicating that you just sipped hot soup, and your tongue is burnt.
WOW
Intended purpose:
When you are shocked or impressed.
Other uses:
Threatening to swallow someone.
SAD
Intended purpose:
When you want the opposite of Like, when you are grieving, when you team lost the big game.
Other uses
Hinting that someone’s eye infection should get examined, because it’s producing a large, odorous discharge
ANGRY
Intended purpose:
When you hate something, when you share a disgust for a given topic.
Other uses:
Telling someone you are not pleased they did not put a “Like” on your post.
What do you think about these new reactions? are they enough or should Facebook extent it further?
