Facebook (FB) Moves Forward in Testing New 'Reactions' Buttons

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is said to be testing its new "dislike" or "Reactions" button, which will utilize a broad swath of emoji in lieu of simply offering an inverse of the famous Facebook "thumbs up" icon.

Engadget noted Thursday that there will be about six other icons aside from the "like" button for users to choose from, including a happy face, heart icon, and sad or "crying" face.

The reactions will be available on user posts and those from Pages. Each post will have a breakdown of the reactions submitted by users.

Below is a photo of what the emoji might look like:

Also, in animation:

Notably, Facebook also posted the following to its news site on Thursday:

Today we are beginning to test Reactions – an extension of the Like button that gives people more ways to share their reaction to a post in a quick and easy way. We’re excited to start this test, but understand that this is a big change, and one that we want to make sure to get right. So we’re starting by offering Reactions to Ireland and Spain, where people will be able to react to any post across Facebook – a post from a friend, advertiser, publisher or business.

Our goal is to show you the stories that matter most to you in News Feed. 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. We will spend time learning from this initial rollout and iterate based on findings in the future.

Will this impact my Page?
We see this as an opportunity for businesses and publishers to better understand how people are responding to their content on Facebook. During this test, Page owners will be able to see Reactions to all of their posts on Page insights. Reactions will have the same impact on ad delivery as Likes do. We will spend time learning from this initial test and use that feedback to improve. Overall, Pages should continue to post things that their audience finds meaningful and continue using our Page post best practices.

We want to hear from people who use Facebook what works and what doesn’t during this test, before we make this change for everyone. Stay tuned!

You May Also Be Interested In

• After-hours movers: Meta, Ford, IBM, ServiceNow and more
• SOPHiA GENETICS (SOPH) Reports Unilabs is using its AI Technology to Detect Homologous Recombination Deficiency
• ContextLogic (WISH) Urges Stockholders to Vote FOR the Value Maximizing Transaction with Qoo10 TODAY