Facebook's Like button evolves into Reactions

Facebook’s Like button evolves into Reactions

The Like button is about to get a whole lot more nuanced, with a new range of emotions available to react to posts. The change is rolling out in the coming weeks. But how to implement it without confusing the Facebook interface?

Zuckerberg had a solution: Just display the usual thumbs-up button under each post, but if someone on her smartphone presses down on it a little longer, the other options will reveal themselves. Cox’s team went with that and added animation to clarify their meaning, making the yellow emojis bounce and change expression. The angry one turns red, looking downward in rage, for example. Once people click their responses, the posts in News Feed show a tally of how many wows, hahas, and loves each generated.

And, of course, more emotional reactions means a richer range of data for Facebook to parse…

(The whole linked piece is worth a read, for its insights into Chris Cox, a big player in Facebook, with a low profile outside its walls.)