Report: Facebook gets emotional

It’s not quite a “dislike” button, but Facebook is expanding how users can respond to posts.



According to TechCrunch, Facebook is testing “Reactions,” a set of six emoji that expand upon the “Like” button, in Ireland and Spain.



The new emoji are small icons representing love, haha, yay, wow, sad and angry. Users will be able to respond with the expanded set of emotions to all posts, including advertisers, pages and accounts. The emoji will not be placed in Facebook-owned social products such as Instagram, at least for the time being.



Reactions will work on both the mobile and desktop versions of Facebook. Mobile users will see the emoji pop up when they touch the Like button, while desktop users will see the emoji when they place a mouse over the Like button or click on it.



Part of the reason for Facebook’s test of emoji is concern that mobile users have a difficult time typing expanded responses to posts. Facebook will tally and track emoji and also eventually place them in its analytics dashboard.



One very interesting aspect of Reactions for retailers and brands is that there will be no option to turn the emoji off. Facebook was concerned the user experience could become diminished or even confusing if emoji were not universally available.



There is no guarantee that Reactions will ever move past the pilot phase into wide global rollout. But retailers need to start thinking about how this expanded set of emoji will affect their Facebook customer engagement activities.



Mobile consumers in particular will have an easier time expressing negative emotional responses to retailer posts. In general, consumers who may not bother writing a negative comment may be encouraged to simply click sad or angry, and haha could also be negative depending on context.



On the plus side, it would also be easier for consumers to express positive emotions in response to retailer posts. And overall, the emoji will allow deeper insight into consumers’ emotional feelings about a retailer’s products and actions, with the chance for quick remediation if needed.



In a word with Facebook Reactions, retailers will need to be extra careful and vigilant in their postings. Only then will they be able to capture the potential benefit of consumers having an easier time expressing more emotions in response to retailers’ Facebook activities.