More than just Like
Great, now instead of checking constantly to see how many Facebook ‘Likes’ we’ve racked up in a day, now we have 5 new super emoting emojis to track, too. Like a different haircut, it’s normal to feel a little uneasy about new things like this, but give it time, and it will feel like it was always meant to be.
After more than a year in development, Facebook’s expanded Like button “reactions” are now coming to your Newsfeed. For the first time, you’ll be able to react to friends’ posts with something other than a gesture of pure positivity. The thumbs-up is still there, and just as prevalent, but now it has friends. Get it?
Hover your cursor on the Like button and you’ll now see happy face (and sad, etc) themed emojis that represent “love,” “haha,” “wow,” “sad,” and “angry,” and posts will now show the mix of reactions they’ve received. And while there’s no “dislike” button, as some users have long requested, Zuck says that the new mix of reactions has proven popular with users during testing in Spain and Ireland.
Given the emotional range of things people to post on Facebook, it’s long since time that the Like button make room for some alternatives. Now, if one of your friends posts something that is not necessarily a good thing, like taking their sick dog to the vet, you can react with something other than Like. People will quibble with the implementation, but on the whole it feels thoughtfully designed. Likable, even.