At a Town Hall Q&A held in September at Facebook’s headquarters Mark Zuckerberg announced that they were working on a “dislike” button, or as he explained a way to show empathy.
Today Facebook announced they are testing a group of “Reactions”, demonstrated by Emojis.
Chris Cox, Facebook’s Chief Product Officer, explained the new buttons in a post on his Facebook Page today. “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. Starting today Ireland and Spain can start loving, wow-ing, or expressing sympathy to posts on Facebook by hovering or long-pressing the Like button wherever they see it. We’ll use the feedback from this to improve the feature and hope to roll it out to everyone soon.
Billions of “Likes” are made every day on Facebook and it is an easy way to express caring about a post. For years now Facebook Users have been requesting a way to dislike posts. A way to express more than liking an update. That update may be a sad event or a disturbing article, clicking the “Like” button shows you like the update, but in this situation you may want to acknowledge that update and specify a different emotion that expresses your dislike of the content.
Facebook has been working to figure out options to provide this sort of expression. Though they want to give users the opportunity to express other emotions they want to keep it respectful and simple.
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook, explained on his Facebook Page that “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”
Reactions have begun testing in Ireland and Spain and Facebook will focus on learning from this pilot program before launching the buttons to everyone.
We hope you like this – or can better express how you’re feeling! (Mark Zuckerberg)
View the Facebook video demonstration:
