In a big week for Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has posted that they are testing a new, more expressive Like button – they’re calling it ‘Reactions’. Initial testing is being carried out in Ireland and Spain before it is rolled out elsewhere.
As the Facebook CEO explains,
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.
.Initial reactions seem to mixed, with many welcoming the new button, while others wish they already had a ‘dislike’ button so that they could dislike his post. Well, with almost 1.5 billion users, you’re not going to please all the people all the time.
What will be interesting is to see if they different ‘Reactions’ options will have varying weight on Facebook’s engagement algorithm.
