After announcing plans to integrate a "dislike" button, as previously reported by HNGN, Facebook has now revealed an alternative solution in the form of emoji "reactions," according to Wired. The dislike button was to be used as a form of empathy for posts that were inappropriate for likes, but the recent announcement of reactions is set to give users even more options for emotional expression.
"As you can see, it's not a 'dislike' button, though we hope it addresses the spirit of this request more broadly," said Chris Cox, Facebook's chief product officer. "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."
There will be six emoji reactions available once integrated: love, haha, wow, yay, sad and angry, according to The Verge. Reaction numbers will be counted in the same way as likes and will be listed in the same area.
The announcement comes after Facebook experts found that users wouldn't get what they needed from a simple dislike button.
"If you see something sad you could dislike it," said Adam Mosseri, lead product developer for the Facebook News Feed. "But we find in practice people would rather send sympathy."
The reactions also address the increasing use of Facebook on mobile devices, giving users the opportunity to respond to posts without typing something out on their phone, according to TechCrunch.
"Typing on mobile is difficult, and this is way easier than finding a sticker or emoji to respond to in the feed," said Mosseri.
