- Reactions complement Facebook's (FB - unchanged) standard Like button by providing six emojis - they're labeled Love, Haha, Yay, Wow, Sad, and Angry - that can be used to provide reactions to news feed posts. The feature is being tested in Spain and Ireland.
- Mark Zuckerberg recently confirmed Facebook is working on a mechanism that would let users express empathy over a sad event, while adding the feature wouldn't let users register a negative opinion towards a post. Facebook director of product Adam Mosseri notes many users are already relying on Stickers to provide a wordless response to a post. "Typing on mobile is difficult, and and this is way easier than finding a sticker or emoji to respond to in the feed."
- Advertisers and brands like the potential of Reactions to provide a better understanding of how viewers are responding to a post than the Like button allows by itself. "The data will help marketers break down the posts more specifically," says the chief creative officer of architecture firm Mithun. An exec at ad firm Fluent: "I wouldn't be surprised if advertisers gain access to this data over time and start targeting campaigns based on the emotional state of various consumer segments."