Facebook on Thursday said it s testing a way to react to people s posts by using emojis that express sadness, love, anger, excitement and other emotions, going beyond its signature thumbs up like button.
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, wrote Chris Cox, Facebook s chief product officer in a post about the new feature.
Cox said people in Ireland and Spain can use the new feature now and they plan to roll it out to everyone once the social media giant gets some more feedback.
The pilot of the new feature comes after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a townhall in September that the company was testing a dislike button, though he hinted it might not be a thumbs down icon.
Not every moment is a good moment. If you are sharing something that is sad, whether it s something in current events like the refugee crisis that touches you or if a family member passed away then it may not feel comfortable to like that post, Zuckerberg said.
Facebook first launched the like button in 2009 and it s become a well-known symbol of the social media website, which has a sign outside of its Menlo Park headquarters with a large thumbs-up.
As you can see, it s not a dislike button, though we hope it addresses the spirit of this request more broadly, Cox said.
Photo Credit: Screenshot from video posted on Chris Cox s Facebook page.
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