Remember when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the social network would be gaining a Dislike button? Well, turns out that Facebook is getting some new reactions, but not a straight-up Dislike button.
Facebook is now testing Reactions, which it calls “an extension of the Like button that gives people more ways to share their reaction to a post in a quick and easy way.” Reactions are made up of 6 emojis that offer varying expressions. There’s a heart for Love as well as faces for Haha, Yay, Wow, Sad, and Angry. These emoji will appear when you press the Like button, giving you other ways to react to a post.
Reactions will first launch in Ireland and Spain as part of early testing. Facebook says that it’ll examine Reactions use in those markets and then determine how to change it or launch it in additional markets.
Facebook’s new Reactions aren’t a straight-up Dislike button, but it’s not really surprising that Facebook won’t actually offer a Dislike button because of the ways that such a button could be abused. These emoji can’t really be used nefariously like a Dislike button could be, and with the recent rise in popularity of emoji in the US and other markets, offering a set of emoji-based Reactions could be better for Facebook anyway.