Facebook gets even closer to moving beyond the Like
If you feel limited by Facebook's emotional range, then you're really going to like what's coming next.
The company announced that it would expand its set of in-network emotions in October, after many years of user requests to add a "dislike" button to the platform. At that time, Facebook said that users would eventually be able to choose between a few emotions apart from Like: namely Love, Yay, Haha, Wow, Angry, Sad. A report from Bloomberg, however, says that Yay has been nixed.
On Facebook's earnings call this week, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that the feature, Facebook Reactions, will be rolling out to the full network "pretty soon" on every Facebook platform.
He added that he thinks adding more emotions helps make the network a more empathetic and more open place.
"The philosophy behind it is that when you only have a like button, if you share a sad piece of content or something that makes you angry, people may not have the tool to react to it," Zuckerberg explained.
The addition of Reactions, he said, should increase engagement, sharing and openness.
In a post on Facebook earlier this month, product manager Chris Cox showed off how the emoticons look in Japan, birthplace of the emoji and the sixth country to get the more expressive options:
Zuckerberg said that Facebook has been testing the feature in a handful of countries first to make sure it works smoothly before it goes live for everyone.