Facebook Combines Emoji With Multi-Option Likes For 'Reactions'

While there was news lately about Facebook possibly introducing a new "dislike" button alongside their iconic Like, it seems the social network is already testing another option for expressing different opinions or feelings on a post. Called "Reactions," the feature turns the single-response Like into seven different emotions, complete with corresponding emoji. Sources told Engadget that Reactions will go into testing as early as this week for Facebook users in Ireland and Spain.

At a simple glance, Reactions looks like a much better way for users to express how they feel about a post. The "Like" as we know it now is still present, represented by the good old thumbs-up icon. Then there's a heart, for when users "love" something, we assume, followed by the standard emoji for laughing, happy, surprised, sad, and angry.

The feature is clearly reminiscent of sites like BuzzFeed that let users mark how they felt about an article, with options for happy, sad, angry, LOL, etc. By applying this system to Facebook, it could make more sense when it comes to posts about things that aren't necessarily good or positive news.

Reactions are said to work on posts from both regular users as well as those from Pages, with Engadget adding that Ad Manager will record all Reactions as just Likes during the testing process. There's no word yet on when the feature might see a wider rollout, so we'll just have to keep an eye out.

SOURCE Engadget