Facebook Reactions Launch Worldwide

Facebook Reactions Launch Worldwide

Have you started noticing an abundance of emoticons today in your newsfeed? That is because Facebook has launched its "Reactions" worldwide. Adding to its Like button, Facebook now allows you to express more emotion in your quick reactions to content via Android, iOS, desktop, and mobile Web browser.

This feature has been tested since October when Zuckerberg revealed that he wanted to allow users to express more. By holding the like button, users can now add emoticons such as laughing, sad, or angry.

What does the launch of Reactions mean to marketers?

Users now have the conversation opened more broadly even with quick responses. What this implies is that we can infer more from a reaction than with a simple like. Prior to this launch, we were left with empty middle ground between a 'like' and a comment.  Many users may not take the time to comment, but a 'like' did not fully capture their sentiments toward a piece of content.

With a Reaction, we can infer that a user may want to see more of a type of post. We can, therefore, create more dynamic conversations even on content that may not warrant the energy to comment.

Product Manager Sammi Krug said, "We see this as an opportunity for businesses and publishers to better understand how people are responding to their content on Facebook. Page owners will be able to see Reactions of all kinds on their post page insights."

Time will tell if this is a passing phase or something we users actually adopt, but for now, we have cool smileys and such. Yay!