Facebook's "like" button isn't going away, but it's about to get some company.
Facebook has been testing alternatives to "like" in about a half-dozen countries, including Ireland, Spain and Japan. On Wednesday, Facebook started making "haha," ''angry" and three other responses available in the U.S. and the rest of the world.
In changing a core part of Facebook - the 7-year-old "like" button has become synonymous with the social network - the company said it tried to keep things familiar. The thumbs-up "like" button will look just as it long has, without the other choices cluttering the screen or confusing people. You have to hold that button or mouse over the "like" link for a second or two for the alternatives to pop up.
Here are seven things to know about Facebook's latest feature, known as Reactions.
WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?
When a friend posts that his father has died, or a cousin gets frustrated with her morning commute, hitting "like" might seem insensitive. Users have long requested a "dislike" button, but that was deemed too negative and problematic. Are you disliking the death or the call for sympathy?
Facebook chose to offer more nuanced reactions - "love," ''haha," ''wow," ''sad" and "angry" - alongside "like" - to give users "greater control over their expressivity," says Julie Zhuo, Facebook's product design director.
WHY THESE CHOICES
Facebook went through comments on friends' posts, as well as emoji-like stickers people were using. It chose the most common ones and tested those. Facebook considered dozens of reactions - but offering them all would have been confusing. Think of having to flip through pages and pages of emojis: Do you want one wink, a tear, a full frown or a half frown?
Facebook ultimately chose these six reactions for their universal appeal - something that could be understood around the world. Even a generic happy face "was a little bit ambiguous and harder for people to understand," Zhuo says.
Each reaction comes with an animated emoji, such as the thumbs up for "like" and a heart for "love." These emojis will look the same around the world, but phrases such as "love" will be translated.
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