Facebook Set To Extend Like Button With Reactions

Instead of simply liking things, Soon its users will be able to be “angry” and “sad,” or shout “yay” or “wow” — or simply “love” a comment, photo or video posted on the social media site.

“We want people to be able to share all of the things that are meaningful to them, not just the things that are happy and that people are going to like when they see it,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.

According to him, the rollout will come “pretty soon.”

The traditional “Like” button will still appear at the bottom of posts. If the user holds down the button on a smartphone, the five emoji options will be revealed.

Facebook’s Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, confirmed that the company is adding five new reactions to the Like button, however, they didn’t specify the date for the launch, but said it would be “in the next few weeks.”

“As you can see, it’s not a ‘dislike’ button, though we hope it addresses the spirit of this request more broadly. 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,” Chris Cox said.

The social networking giant announced last year October that its testing “Reactions”, a set of five emojis that users can choose from, and according to Zuckerberg, the move is essentially aimed at giving Facebook users more choices to express their feelings towards a particular post, adding that the company wants to give its users more ways to empathise.

For instance, in case of tragedies such as earthquakes or terror attacks users generally don’t feel comfortable to ‘Like’ that post. Hence, with the introduction of ‘Reactions’ users will have more ways to express their response.

The like button is the engine of Facebook and its most recognized symbol.

This is the most drastic change to Facebook in years.