Facebook's "like" button is synonymous with the social media network, being clicked by its users upwards of six billion times per day, according to Bloomberg Business.
A feature published by the same news agency about the social media network's decision to blow up the "like" button reveals that Reactions will be available "in the next few weeks," according to Facebook's chief product officer Chris Cox.
"We roll things out very carefully," Cox, who first conceived the idea about changing the "like" button last year and got the green light from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, told Bloomberg Business. "And that comes from a lot of lessons learned."
As previous reports indicated, Facebook Reactions won't replace the "like" button — instead, they will expand upon it. "In the next few weeks," as Cox alluded, Facebook users will be able to use their smartphones and press down on the traditional thumbs-up button, only for the new options to open and appear underneath them.
Cox's team added animation to spell out their meaning, as the new emojis will bounce and change expressions. For example, the impending "angry" emoji turns red, staring downwards. When users click on their responses, their posts in their News Feed will show a total of how many of the new emojis were clicked upon.
So, what are the new emojis? Everything from a "sad" emoji, shedding tears, to a "love" Reaction with a heart pulsating, "wow," "angry," as aforementioned, and "haha."
"Yay" was supposed to be one of the Reactions, but it was ultimately left on the cutting room floor as a Facebook spokesperson told Bloomberg that "it was not universally understood." Maybe it was too similar to "wow."
Also, it should be mentioned that a once-proposed "dislike" button was rejected, with the thought being that it would generate too much negativity, Bloomberg reported within its feature.
Ready for Facebook to expand from its famed "like" to include five more Reactions?
