In a recent Townhall organised by Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg replying to a question sent to him by a user from Cairo about the much talked about “dislike” button said that Facebook was working on the concept and would soon roll-out a test version.
“We don’t want to turn Facebook in a community where people up vote or down vote a post but what we have realised is that people want a button to express empathy,” he had said about the plan. “We want to give people more options to emote as not every post can be liked,” he said taking the example of a post from a refugee crisis or of a post about a family member dying.
Zuckerberg has kept his promise as Facebook announced on Friday that they are launching a product called Reactions which is a more expressive Like button. He said “Reactions gives you new ways to express love, awe, humour 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.” The button has been launched in Ireland and Spain. “We hope you like this – or can better express how you’re feeling!,” he added. The reactions include Like, Love, Haha, Yay, Wow, Sad and Angry.
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Facebook users and online communities have been abuzz discussing what such a button would do to their Facebook experience.
Shwetha Rao a user says that Facebook has become the primary tool to keep in touch with friends and relationships continue thanks to its service. “Like in every friendship, it is not always happy and there are situations where people post something sad and it is awful to see that the post has many likes under it. These buttons, however, would help with showing emotions.”
Anandita another user says she does not understand what all the fuss is about because there is already an option to use a sticker and wonders if people use them all the time while instant messaging, why can’t they use them to convey a mood.
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People use Facebook for various things and those who use it primarily as a source of news say that the Reaction button will help to show how their friends feel about a particular news story or a campaign. Ritwik De says “When someone likes a story you know they have read it. But there are so many more who may have read it and not liked it but did not necessarily have a comment on it. Since I use Facebook to gather news from across the world I would welcome a reaction button to show that I do not approve of something.”
However, having more that one option, will spoil the concept as opinions will get divided they should have just gone with the dislike button that the one YouTube has with a thumbs up and a thumbs down, opines Ritwik.