Mother's Day is drawing near, and social network Facebook will be taking advantage of the occasion to roll out a pair of special features.
The first feature is an experimental reaction called "thankful" that will be represented by a flower icon. The special reaction will be placed in between the "love" and "haha" reactions that appear when users tap and hold on the "like" button for posts.
The experimental reaction was first spotted by Twitter user Sreedev Sharma and then later confirmed by Facebook. The company added that the reaction will be tested in a handful of countries outside the United States and that it will be only a temporary one, which will only be available on Mother's Day. The count of flower icons will still be seen on Facebook posts after the reaction is removed when Mother's Day ends, though.
Facebook noted that this will not be the last of temporary reactions, as the company will be experimenting more with the feature in the future. Perhaps sponsored reactions will soon be coming to the social network.
As for the countries that will be able to use the flower reaction on Mother's Day, Facebook did not reveal the information, though it is not surprising that it will be limiting the feature to specific countries. The company did the same thing when it was testing its reactions feature, as it rolled it out first in Spain and Ireland.
For users in countries where the "thankful" reaction will not be launched, though, Facebook has other things in store this Mother's Day. In the company's communications app Messenger, a flower button will be appearing next to the text box. Tapping the icon will cause the message or image being sent through the app to be animated with flowers.
In addition, Messenger is also launching a sticker pack with a Mother's Day theme to commemorate the annual event.
