Facebook’s “Like” button has become an iconic part of the platform since its introduction in 2009. With a single click, users can show appreciation and support for content posted by friends, family, brands, and organizations. However, some users want more options beyond just “liking” a post. This led Facebook to introduce additional reactions in 2016, including the red heart icon.
The heart reaction on Facebook serves a similar purpose to “liking” a post, but it allows you to convey a little more nuance. Rather than just generically liking content, the heart reaction lets you show love, appreciation, or that something is your favorite. It’s more expressive than a standard like.
Switching from the thumbs up Like to the heart reaction is easy to do. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to make a heart on Facebook instead of a standard Like.
How to Use the Heart Reaction
On the Facebook Website
If you are accessing Facebook on a desktop or laptop browser, here are the steps to use a heart reaction:
- Navigate to the post you want to react to and hover your mouse pointer over the Like button. This will cause other reaction icons to appear.
- Click on the heart icon. You should see a red heart animation flash on the screen briefly.
- The heart reaction has now replaced your Like. You can toggle between reactions by repeating the steps above.
In the Facebook Mobile App
The process is similar on mobile:
- Tap and hold your finger on the Like button of the post.
- A pop-up menu will appear with all the reaction options. Tap on the red heart icon.
- The heart reaction will now show on that post. You can change it by holding Like again.
Other Ways to Use a Heart Reaction
In addition to reacting to friends’ posts, you can use the heart icon in other Facebook interactions, including:
- Reacting to comments – Long press a comment’s Like button to choose the heart.
- Reacting to images – Tap the heart on any photos or videos you see on Facebook.
- Reacting to ads – Use the heart reaction on ads, Pages, or promoted posts.
- Live videos – Heart react during any live broadcasts from friends or Pages.
Heart Reaction vs. Standard Like
The heart and Like actually serve the same purpose – they both let you interact with things you see in your News Feed and engage with content. However, there are a few key differences:
It’s more expressive
As mentioned earlier, the heart reaction allows you to better convey how you feel. Rather than a generic Like, it signifies love, appreciation, favoritism, or that you really enjoyed something.
You can switch reactions
With the classic Like button, you can only like something once. The reactions allow you to change your mind – you can heart something first, then later switch to a Laugh, Wow, Sad, or Angry react.
It’s tracked separately
If you only want to see posts you’ve heart reacted to, you can. Reactions are tracked separately from Likes. So you can search for and filter by the specific reaction type.
It gives more feedback
Pages and businesses get metrics on reactions, seeing the breakdown of how people reacted. So the heart reaction provides more nuanced feedback than a generic Like.
Why People Use the Heart Instead of Like
There are many reasons why someone may choose to show a heart reaction rather than just liking something on Facebook:
- To express love for close friends and family
- To show appreciation for truly meaningful or moving posts
- To highlight their favorite posts among many Liked posts
- To show support for an important cause or issue
- To signify something made them emotional in a positive way
- To quietly flirt and show affection for a crush or partner
In short, the heart reaction conveys a little extra meaning and emotion compared to a regular Like. People use it when they want to show something resonated more deeply with them.
Does the Heart Notification Say Who Reacted?
When someone reacts to your post with a heart, you’ll get a notification saying something like “John Doe and 10 others reacted with a heart”. However, it does not specify exactly who the other people are who hearted your post.
To see the full list of everyone who reacted:
- Go to your post
- Click on the hearts below your post
- This will show the list of people who reacted and allow you to react back or message them
So while the notification keeps things generalized, you can still see exactly who hearted your post if you want to.
Can You Take Back the Heart Reaction?
Yes, the heart reaction can be undone, just like a regular Like. Simply long press on the heart icon again and choose a different reaction, or press the heart to undo it entirely.
You can also undo it from your activity log:
- Go to your profile
- Click Activity Log in the left menu
- Click the heart reaction you want to undo
- Select Undo Reaction and it will be removed
Conclusion
The heart reaction on Facebook provides a way to express more than a simple Like. It conveys love, appreciation, meaningfulness, or that you really enjoyed something. Using it instead of the standard Like allows you to better express how you feel about posts from friends, family, businesses, and organizations.
Tapping and holding Like brings up the heart reaction and other emojis you can use. You’ll then see a heart instead of your name in the list of people who reacted. The heart can also be undone if you change your mind. So if you want to show extra emotion with your interactions, go ahead and spread some heart reactions!