Facebook’s ‘Reactions’ Feature Will Challenge The ‘Like’ Button

Facebook is testing a new way for users to express their emotions on the social networking site, other than the generic ‘Like’ button.

But it seems that there is still no progress on the ‘Dislike’ button.

Reactions Launch

Until now, Facebook users have had to rely on the blunt ‘Like’ button when reacting to posts. Many feel that the one option is hardly appropriate for example when someone posts about a death or a serious world event like an earthquake or terrorist attack.

Indeed, for years now users have been requesting a way to provide more nuanced feedback without having to actually write a message.

And CEO Mark Zuckerberg it seems has taken this onboard and confirmed during a conference call with analysts after Facebook’s financial results, that it is currently testing ‘Reactions’ in Ireland and Spain.

So what is “Reactions”? Well instead of the Dislike button, Reactions will be six different emoticons. It is reported that these six new emoticons will be rolled out in the next few days worldwide.

The new emoticons will be “Love”, “Haha”, “Yay”, “Wow”, “Sad” and “Angry”. These new emoticons will apparently sit alongside the regular thumbs up as extra options for responding to other people’s posts.

Other media reports suggest that the “Yay” emoticon will not appear in the final release after a lukewarm response from users.

Marketing Change?

The arrival of Reactions could herald some changes in the way that Facebook is used by many companies as a marketing tool, as newsfeed adverts are often tailored by what posts, brands and companies users have “Liked”.

And there is still some concern that users are abandoning the site. Some experts point out that teenagers think Facebook is no longer cool and are therefore jumping ship to rival social networks.

That said Facebook recently reported that on 24 August more than one billion people had accessed Facebook over a single day, meaning one in seven people across the world logged into the social network.

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