Want to know how to use Facebook’s newly released reactions emoji? We’ve got all the info you need to get and use the new like button emoji on iOS, Android and desktop computers.
On Wednesday, Facebook rolled out its new like button emoji, dubbed “Reactions,” to users around the globe. The feature, which has been a year in the making, first released in seven countries for beta testing last October. According to Facebook, reaction emoji aren’t meant to replace the traditional like button, but rather, give users more options for quickly and authentically responding to friends’ posts. After all, there’s never a more awkward situation then trying to decide if you should “like” the news that your best friend’s dog just died. Sure we don’t actually “like” the news, but with the like button being the only symbolic way we can acknowledge the situation and show our support, many of us press it almost instructively.
Facebook’s reaction button emoji seek to resolve that conundrum for users, giving them six new emotional reactions emoji with which to respond.
“We’ve been listening to people and know that there should be more ways to easily and quickly express how something you see in News Feed makes you feel,” the company wrote in a blog about the launch.
How To Use Facebook Reactions Emoji On iOS, Android And Desktop
According to Facebook, using their new reaction emojis is really simple. The feature is being rolled out to all iOS and Android and desktop users over the next few days. Here’s how it works:
iOS/Android
- · Go to a post you want to react to on Facebook.
- · Press and hold down on the “Like” button.
- · A popup drawer with the six reaction emoji should appear.
- · Tap on the reaction you want to use.
- · Once you’ve selected your reaction, let go and it will be posted.
Desktop
- · Go to a post you want to react to on Facebook.
- · Hover over the “Like” button.
- · A popup drawer with the six reaction emoji should appear.
- · Click on the one you want to use
- · Once you’ve selected your reaction, let go and it will be posted.
How To View Reactions Emoji My Facebook Posts Have Received
To view how many different kinds of reactions you have gotten on your post, you follow similar procedures as adding them.
- · Press on or hover over the reaction you want to check in the area where your number of “likes” used to be posted.
- · Tapping and holding or hovering over any reaction emoji shown gives you a drop down menu of all the people who reacted to your post in that way.
Facebook Reaction Emoji Are Not Working For Me. Am I Doing Something Wrong?
If you can’t see or use the new reactions buttons yet, don’t worry. They are coming. The company has said it will take a few days to get them working for everyone around the globe. We tested the reaction emoji on desktop and iPhone. The desktop version is working but it doesn’t seem to be available on iPhone yet in our area. UPDATE: iPhone version now working for us in NY.
Keep an eye out for a Facebook update in the app store or close out your Facebook app and reopen it to see if the emoji are active yet. Within the next day or two, you should be able to see and use the emoji both on your mobile and desktop computers.
Can I Use More Than One Reaction Emoji On Facebook?
At this point, it appears you can only use on one Reaction emoji at a time on a post. If you accidentally choose the wrong one, you can undo it, by pressing on your reaction again. Only allowing one reaction is probably so Facebook can accurately track how many people have responded to your post. In the future, we'd love to see multiple reactions allowed but we're not sure how Facebook would implement it.
What Facebook Reaction Emoji Mean
So what are the six new reaction emoji and how will they affect your timeline? Here’s a breakdown of each one.
Like (thumbs up emoji) – does the same thing it always did. Allows you to show your approval, interest or support of the post.
Love (heart emoji) – For when you feel a lot strong about a post than just liking it. It can also be a way to show your affectionate support of a friend when then need it.
Wow (shocked or wide “O” mouth emoji) – take it how you like. Wow can be awed and amazed by some news or just dumbstruck and unbelieving. You’ll know it when you feel it.
Haha (laughing face emoji) – This might be the way for us chronic LOLers to break out habit.
Sad (tear down face emoji) – Yeah, we all know how this one should be used. We expect this emoji to be very popular.
Angry (red hot scowling emoji) – Facebook won’t give us a dislike button, but having the ability to voice anger makes up about 50% of all Facebook posts anyway, so why not at the emoji. Rage on!
How Facebook Reactions Emoji Impact Your News Feed
We’re not exactly sure how this will all play out, but according to Facebook , adding a reactions emoji to a post will help the social media platform to figure out other similar posts to show you, based on your reaction.
“Our goal with News Feed is to show you the stories that matter most to you,” the company wrote. “Initially, just as we do when someone likes a post, if someone uses a Reaction, we will infer they want to see more of that type of post.”
So, our guess is, if you tend to use the “angry” emoji a lot, Facebook is going to bring you more news to be angry about. This is one point that has us a little boggled, and we can only imagine the plethora of psychological studies the new reactions buttons will spawn. Facebook does note that using your reactions to determine posts to show you is something they are only testing, so if it doesn’t seem that useful, they may stop doing it.
“We will initially use any Reaction similar to a Like to infer that you want to see more of that type of content. Over time we hope to learn how the different Reactions should be weighted differently by News Feed to do a better job of showing everyone the stories they most want to see,” the company wrote.
