Before now you may have read that Facebook had the intention of unveiling what it calls “reaction” buttons as an addition to the “Like. ” Last week Wednesday Facebook finally brought this to reality as it made available some reaction button to users globally.
In a video accompanying a blog post, the five new buttons appear as animated emoticons that pop up when the “Like” button is held down on mobile devices. The buttons appear on desktops when users hover over the “Like” button.
Facebook launched a pilot of “Reactions” – which allowed users to select from seven emotions including “Angry”, “Sad”, “Wow” and “Like” – in Ireland and Spain in October. The “Yay” emoticon, which was present in the pilot launch, was not seen in Wednesday’s video.
Many had expected a DISLIKE button to billed out along the reaction buttons but things went another way. Facebook’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in September the company was thinking of adding a “dislike” button, which spearheaded a debate over whether it would increase cyber bullying and negativity on the site. In October, the company said it would expand its signature “Like” button with various reactions.