The New Facebook Like ‘Reactions’ Are Now Available — What Do They Mean? Dislike Option?

Many have begged and pleaded with Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg to give them more emotion options than just a “Like.” Sometimes, there are stories that you love or dislike or that make you laugh or make you angry or shock you. Well, there is still no “Dislike” option, but Facebook has now given the world the “Reactions,” which allow emojis to show instead of just a simple thumbs up.

Well, we knew they were coming. Now they’re here. Facebook reactions now available globally https://t.co/AGqNqoxrXM pic.twitter.com/PQ8OzyJdO9

— Madeline Malicki (@MadelineRose00) February 24, 2016

Mark Zuckerberg himself got on Facebook early on Wednesday afternoon and notified the world of the release of “Reactions.” He considers them to be the new Like button, but with users having more ways of expressing themselves and how they feel.

It’s something that Facebook users have wanted for years and have heard rumors of something similar coming, but nothing ever showed up. Zuckerberg feels as if this is the way to finally get your true feelings across even if you have nothing to say.

“Not every moment you want to share is happy. Sometimes you want to share something sad or frustrating. Our community has been asking for a dislike button for years, but not because people want to tell friends they don’t like their posts. People wanted to express empathy and make it comfortable to share a wider range of emotions.”

The Facebook Reactions can be used by simply hovering over the Like option, and the six possibilities will pop up on your screen.

On the mobile app, all a user has to do is hold down the Like button and the Reactions options will pop up for them to use. The Facebook Newsroom knows how big of a change this is, and through surveys and focus groups, they’ve learned these were the emoticons, emojis, and reactions wanted most by everyone.

It’s no longer just expressing yourself via a Thumbs Up gesture, because not everything on Facebook calls to be “liked.” Zuckerberg and his team have figured out exactly what was needed so that just about every possible emotion can now be shown with a face or reaction.

• Like
• Love
• Laughter
• Surprise
• Sadness
• Anger

So, there is still no actual “Dislike” option, as many have asked for over the years. Still, this is about as close as users have gotten to one ever, and it at least gives options other than just hitting “Like” and making a sad or anger-inducing story seem appreciated, which is awkward.

Believe it or not, Mark Zuckerberg states that it took more than a year of searching, testing, research, and experiments to see which emotions would be best. This may not seem like such a big deal to everyone, but Facebook users are serious about how things work and don’t always like change, so it needed to be done carefully and right.

Facebook is likely going to be ever-evolving and ever-changing, but it’s been quite some time since something this big has happened with the social media giant. The Reactions are what users have wanted for a very long time, and it’s possible that they may even have advancements in time.

Mark Zuckerberg isn’t going to just do something and let it happen without testing it. He’s not going to have a release and get feedback from Facebook users and ignore it. The new Facebook Reactions have now been released to the world, and if changes are called for, the people will let it be known.

Facebook doesn’t have just the “Like” option anymore. If you think something is funny or sad or if it makes you angry, the brand new Reactions will allow you to let the world know that’s what you’re thinking or feeling, even if you can’t actually “Dislike” something.

[Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]