Chris Cox, Facebook's chief product officer, revealed that "Reactions" - the social media's upgrade of the "Like" button, will soon be available worldwide. "Reactions" was revealed in October 2015 and was first tested in Iceland and Spain, and then released in Chile, Colombia, Philippines and Portugal, USA Today reports.
This new option is the company's response to the demand for a "Dislike" button, something that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finds too negative to even consider.
"Everyone feels like they can just push the Like button, and that's an important way to sympathize or empathize with someone. We need to figure out the right way to do it so it ends up being a force for good, not a force for bad," said Zuckerberg, when asked about the issue in 2014, according to Mashable.
In order to access the additional reactions, those using a computer will have to hover the mouse pointer over the "Like" button, while those on mobile will have to hold the button for a few more seconds until the five additional options appear - "Love," "Haha," "Wow," "Sad," and "Angry," depicted in their corresponding emoticon.
There was a sixth reaction in the original release of the option - "Yay." However, Facebook removed it at some point over the past few months after determining that it was not "universally understood," according to The Verge.
