Facebook will begin testing a new feature allowing users in Ireland and Spain to express a range of emotions on posts starting Friday – but there will be no “dislike” button, the social network said.
Facebook described the new “Reactions” options as an extension of the “like” button, to give people more ways to easily signal how they feel.
Users have for years pressed the world’s leading online social network for a “dislike” button to complement the existing thumbs up one, which allows users to express they “like” a post.
“Not every moment is a good moment, and sometimes you just want a way to express empathy,” posted Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
Meet the new Reactions.
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, 8 October 2015
“These are important moments where you need the power to share more than ever, and a ‘Like’ might not be the best way to express yourself.”
During the trial, users in Ireland and Spain will be able to select six emotions, as well as the like button, as they consider how they feel about posts.
The options for the trial are: “love,” “yay,” “wow,” “haha,” “sad,” and “angry,” and are similar to emojis used in text messaging. Each expression comes with a correspondingly themed emoji.
“Reactions gives you new ways to express love, awe, humor and sadness,” Zuckerberg said.
“It’s not a dislike button, but it does give you the power to easily express sorrow and empathy – in addition to delight and warmth.”
Chris Toss, Facebook product manager, said Reactions would give users greater ways of engaging with stories and content.
“It’s a much broader range of human emotions you can express,” he told Irish national broadcaster RTE, speaking from California.
A spokesman had no information on the length of the trial or when it might be extended to Facebook users outside Ireland and Spain.
Toss also said the social network decided a “dislike” button would not add value to the site.
“Liking” something on Facebook also plays a key role in the social network’s algorithm, allowing users to see content they regularly engage with and enabling targeted advertising.
The new range of empathy buttons could eventually be used for similar purposes, but not during the trial, according to Toss.
“If you’re coming for humorous content and you’re saying ‘ha ha’ to lots of funny cat videos, down the road we might use that to show you more cat videos, but as of the initial test you won’t see any of that,” Toss said.
Today we're launching a test of Reactions — a more expressive Like button. The Like button has been a part of Facebook for a long time. Billions of Likes are made every day, and Liking things is a simple way to express yourself.For many years though, people have asked us to add a "dislike" button. Not every moment is a good moment, and sometimes you just want a way to express empathy. These are important moments where you need the power to share more than ever, and a Like might not be the best way to express yourself.At a recent Townhall Q&A, I shared with our community that we've spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to give you better options for expressing yourself, while keeping the experience simple and respectful. Today we're starting to test this.Reactions gives you new ways to express love, awe, humor and sadness. It's not a dislike button, but it does give you the power to easily express sorrow and empathy — in addition to delight and warmth. You’ll be able to express these reactions by long pressing or hovering over the Like button. We’re starting to test Reactions in Ireland and Spain and will learn from this before we bring the experience to everyone. We hope you like this – or can better express how you’re feeling!
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, 8 October 2015