If someone posts bad news, for example, you want to acknowledge that you saw it. But a Like button not only falls short a lot of times, it can be downright inappropriate.
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“People wanted to express empathy and make it comfortable to share a wider range of emotions”, Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page.
These reactions are available right now, although they’re not immediately visible.
If you’re using a mobile phone, then you’ll need to actually press and hold down the “like” button before the Reactions will appear.
In contrast, user Diane Bjorling welcomed the new tools.
In unveiling plans a year ago, Facebook noted that it was not considering a “dislike” button despite the idea floated in some reports.
Facebook users in Ireland and Spain were the first to be able to express a fuller range of emotions online with a set of new expressions and animated emojis last fall. This may not seem like such a big deal to everyone, but Facebook users are serious about how things work and don’t always like change, so it needed to be done carefully and right.
While some don’t think it’ll make a difference in their lives, there’s no denying the impact Facebook is having on the world of social media.
Facebook says it conducted research for more than a year, tapping focus groups and surveys and poring over short one- to three-word comments, emoji or in virtual stickers to determine the emotions people most commonly want to express.
For a long time, users had been requesting the company to introduce a “dislike” button, something like an upvote and downvote feature on Reddit.
You’ve probably already seen the upgraded like button array already, likely due to being on Facebook at this very moment.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg launched the new emojis – dubbed Facebook Reactions – to give users a new way to express themselves.
Facebook says it made adjustments to the feature based on feedback and will continue to refine the product as it rolls out more widely.
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Users have often responded negatively to similar changes on other sites.
