The time is upon us when we must no longer feel confined by a singular like button, and can openly express our feelings and ourselves about our friend’s engagement, our parents garden photos, or the latest celebrity scandal coming out of TMZ. This may sound a bit dramatic, but what I’m trying to say is, Facebook’s new “Reaction” buttons are finally here!
As of this morning, all 1.6 billion worldwide Facebook users will have the ability to react and register different responses to posts.
(Image via Today.com)
Let’s get familiar with our newest Facebook friends:
Our old friend “Like” is still part of the line up, just with a new face. You’ll still see the like button on every post. What’s different now is that instead of just seeing a “Like Count”, you’ll see a total reaction count, and the icons of the most popular reactions.
The “Love” button is a new feature that will help you express what a Like cannot. Mark Zuckerberg told his team during the Facebook overhaul, “I really want to make it easy for people to give other types of feedback than the Like button in the News Feed.” When a friend is going through a hard time, it might not feel right to LIKE their post, but a simple click of the LOVE button will show them you care and that you’re thinking about them.
Ever get sick of commenting “LOL” on a friend’s status update? LOL no more! Let your Facebook friends know that you think they’re just hysterical, and help them rack up the laughs in a whole new way with the new “HAHA” feature.
OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS is just too long of a caption to put on the new reaction button features. Instead, we have “WOW”, when you want to let the world know you’re shocked – whether it be for good reason or bad – at what you’ve read or seen as you’ve scrolled through your feed.
You won’t always be happy with the stories and photos that come across your many screens during your time spent on Facebook. In fact, sometimes you might be down right upset by them! Have you found an article about a puppy that needs a home or a house that burned down in Brooklyn? Express your feelings and sympathies to your friends and the rest of the world with the “SAD” button.
This one is pretty self explanatory. Actually, we won’t be surprised if someone clicks their “ANGRY” button just because they’re mad that they still don’t have a “DISLIKE” button.
Now that you know all the players, let’s find out how we can use them.
Luckily, it’s so simple that everyone can do it!
As always, you’ll go to the bottom left corner of the post where the original “Like” button was.
Let your mouse hover over the “Like” for a second, and you’ll see the 5 new icons pop up.
Choose your reaction, give it a click, and keep scrolling! You’ve just sent your first Facebook Reaction.
Using your mobile device to react? The process is a little bit different, but equally simple.
Once you’re ready to share your reaction, hold your finger over the like button, wait for the new selection to pop up, and slide over to the button you want to share. It’s as simple as that.
