The new symbols, which will augment rather than replace the iconic “like” button, represent expressions of love, laughter, happiness, shock, sadness and anger. No longer do you need to “like” a friend’s post sharing bad news, but you can instead now commiserate with a sad face. Subsequently, rather than tallying “likes” on a post, Facebook will now calculate the reaction count and display the icons of the buttons most pressed. The only thing that is for sure is social media is always growing and changing this is just one change of many left to come.
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The feature received mixed reviews from users on social networking sites.
Advertisers won’t be able to target their ads according to how people have used the Reactions, either. There have been questions on whether a Dislike button could be added in the future.
Facebook product manager Chris Cox says: “We studied which comments and reactions are most commonly and universally expressed across Facebook, then worked to design an experience around them that was elegant and fun”. Some people complained because they could not see the new emoticons, but other expressed unconformity that Facebook did not launch a “dislike” button.
Facebook finally launched its “Reactions” feature globally today, adding five new emotions to the standard Like button and creating a new digital etiquette conundrum. The new feature is now available on Android, iOS and the web.
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“If someone uses a Reaction, we will infer they want to see more of that type of post”. It also said that over the next few years, after understanding the user needs, Facebook will introduce more reactions that will be useful for everyone. The buttons appear on desktops when users hover over the “Like” button.
