They’re here – Facebook Added the New “Reactions” for Global Use
Several months ago Facebook teased us with the possibilities of new “reactions,” otherwise known as expanded emoticons. To be honest, you could easily download emoticons for use with a couple hundred options for easy use. But that meant you had to make a comment. These you can use as their “like” button, just click on it and you’re done. No need to open the comment box and then thumb through all the options and decide if one is enough or should you use more.
There are now six options instead of the one. They’ve added a heart – for “love it,” an open-mouthed smiley face for “haha,” an awestruck smiley for “wow,” a frowner for “sad,” and a glaring one for “angry.” They got rid of the “yay” one because no one seemed to get what it meant.
Some well-known brands have had fun playing with the new reactions. Red Robin, known for their burgers and such, created a new version of the wow/haha reaction, starting with a small awestruck mouth and moving to a big open mouthed smile – but throughout the three-second video, the smiley face has double cheeseburger eyes. Snickers tweeted that for those always hitting the angry button, maybe they could use a Snickers – keeping right in line with their current “You get a little angry when you’re hungry” campaign.
On the other hand, the Atlanta Braves tweeted a top and bottom shot with the bottom showing FB’s new reactions and above those were pictures of their players in baseball card fashion but displaying the emotions by their expression or what they are doing. Samsung did a gif with four of the new emoticons reacting while wearing virtual reality viewing eye covers.
Chevrolet created an entire campaign to welcome the new reactions. It’s a quick commercial talking about how we have been a nation of “likers” but now it’s time to start “loving” – and their Chevy Malibu, they believe is the perfect place to start.
The reactions were first tested in just Irish and Spanish markets beginning several months ago. Then with a few months under their belt, FB brought them to Chile, Colombia, Japan, Portugal, and the Philippines. But now they’ve been added for the rest of the world to enjoy. FB knows that some companies may find the added options frightening – up until this point consumers could like, ignore, share, or comment. Now they have five more quick options and not all of them positive. But most feel the change is good, offering brands the chance to see when things are not working for customers, so they can make changes faster.
How about you, have you used the new reactions yet, do you think they’ll become a staple in your FB time, and how would you “play” with them to market your products or services?
