Ever feel guilty when you “like” a Facebook post that talks about something deplorable? Of course, all you’re doing is lending your support, “liking” that the content was shared, not necessarily the content itself. But it’s difficult to differentiate the two, and that’s why Facebook has decided to introduce what they call “Reactions.”
Announced by Product Manager Sammi Krug, Reactions are an extension of the Like feature and represent a way to specify how one feels about a post. She says in the Facebook Newsroom updates:
Our goal with News Feed is to show you the stories that matter most to you. Initially, just as we do when someone likes a post, if someone uses a Reaction, we will infer they want to see more of that type of post. In the beginning, it won’t matter if someone likes, “wows” or “sads” a post — we will initially use any Reaction similar to a Like to infer that you want to see more of that type of content. Over time we hope to learn how the different Reactions should be weighted differently by News Feed to do a better job of showing everyone the stories they most want to see.
As seen in the feature image above, there are six reactions currently available: “wow,” “sad,” “haha,” “love,” “angry,” as well as the original “like.” Each one is meant to convey exactly how one feels about a post. Generally, Likes will be tallied as before; when users hover over or hold the like button (depending on if you use the computer or mobile device, respectively), the Reactions options will appear. When users want to check out the amount of likes they’ve gained for a post, the overall like score will be displayed: again, hovering over or holding it will specify exactly how much of each Reaction the post has earned.
Krug says that Facebook has been researching this for over a year, using global research, focus groups and surveys to gauge interest. They looked at the emoticons/emojis people were already using to display their reactions and used those as a template for setting up this feature. Krug says that Facebook users can make much use of these, and also says that Reactions can help businesses and publishers better understand how people are responding to their content, which will allow them to reach their target audiences even better than before.
Tell us what you think about the new Reactions in the comments below. For more on the Reactions feature, check out both of the Facebook Newsroom articles regarding Reactions: