Facebook to roll out ‘reaction’ emojis to give users the ability to do more than just ‘like’

Facebook users will soon be able to express more than a simple like with five emoji-like ‘reactions’ debuting in the next few weeks.

Facebook vice-president Chris Cox revealed the tools to Bloomberg Business, confirming the reactions have been reduced from six to five: angry, sad, wow, haha and love.

A sixth reaction ‘yay’ was scrapped for its inability to be universally understood, according to a Facebook spokesperson.

Reactions will be an extension of the like button, so users that hold down the like button can choose from the five animated emojis.

The technology promises to give SMEs another way to interact with customers and to gain a greater understanding of their feelings towards a particular post or product.

Facebook’s News Feed will also show a tally of how many wows, hahas and loves each post generates, which could potentially become an insightful marketing tool for businesses.

The emojis bounce and change expression based on the reaction. The mouth on the wow face opens in surprise and swivels from side to side, while the angry reaction turns red and shakes.

Reactions have already been tested in countries like Spain, Ireland, Chile, the Philippines, Portugal, and Colombia.

The reactions were also used heavily during the November terrorist attacks in Paris when users in test countries were able to express themselves in more ways than ‘liking’ a post.  

A Dislike button has been ruled out by the social network as it would “sow too much negativity”.

Tags: technology, social media, facebook, chris cox, emoji, reaction

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