It’s no secret that the Facebook community has wanted a “dislike” button so when rumors began swirling around cyberspace that a dislike button was secretly being created, everyone was excited for the announcement. The day has finally come and, well, it’s not quite what everyone was expecting. Instead of simply giving us the thumbs up (like) and thumbs down (dislike) like many in the Facebook community were expecting, we are now getting a full set of “Reactions”.
What are Reactions? It’s a set of 7 emojis (Like, Love, Haha, Yay, Wow, Sad, and Angry) that will take the place of the singular like button. Now, when your friend posts about a friend’s passing, you won’t have to wonder if a like would be insensitive, even if they post a touching memory.
Here’s the video of the new emojis and Mark’s comment about the release.
Today we’re launching a test of Reactions — a more expressive Like button.
The Like button has been a part of Facebook for a long time. Billions of Likes are made every day, and Liking things is a simple way to express yourself.
For many years though, people have asked us to add a “dislike” button. Not every moment is a good moment, and sometimes you just want a way to express empathy. These are important moments where you need the power to share more than ever, and a Like might not be the best way to express yourself.
At a recent Townhall Q&A, I shared with our community that we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to give you better options for expressing yourself, while keeping the experience simple and respectful. Today we’re starting to test this.
Reactions gives you new ways to express love, awe, humor and sadness. It’s not a dislike button, but it does give you the power to easily express sorrow and empathy — in addition to delight and warmth. You’ll be able to express these reactions by long pressing or hovering over the Like button.
We’re starting to test Reactions in Ireland and Spain and will learn from this before we bring the experience to everyone. We hope you like this – or can better express how you’re feeling!
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, October 8, 2015
