MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA — Facebook has announced the launch of "Reactions," an extension of its "Like" button, on Feb. 24.
For years, users have been asking for a "dislike" button in contrast, and Facebook has now answered with five new additional buttons: "love," "haha," "wow," "sad" and "angry."
The new buttons, plus the existing "Like" button are collectively called "Reactions" and can be utilized by hovering over the old "Like" icon on a computer or holding down on the icon on the mobile app.
The project began over a year ago, after Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg finally conceded that the platform needed a better way for users to interact with posts and that not every post is likeable.
With so many different emoticons available, Facebook developers decided to focus on a subset that users expressed most often. They looked at the most frequently used stickers, emojis and one-word comments, and found a few common emotional threads.
The team narrowed it down and tested a batch on users from around the world, ultimately landing on the final five additions.
Facebook updates haven't always been well-received.
"We understand that this is a big change, and want to be thoughtful about rolling this out," wrote product manager Sammi Krug in a blog post. "We have been testing Reactions in a few markets since last year, and have received positive feedback so far. Today, we're excited to offer it to everyone who uses Facebook around the world. We will continue learning and listening to feedback to make sure we have a set of reactions that will be useful for everyone."
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