Facebook Stories allow users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. One of the key features of Stories is that friends can react to them with emoji like Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry. But what exactly happens when someone reacts to your Facebook story? Here’s a quick overview:
When someone reacts to your story, you’ll get a notification about it. The notification will show you which friend reacted and the emoji they used. Tapping on the notification takes you to that story within your archive of stories. You can then see the list of people who reacted and reply back with a message if you want.
In addition to notifications, you can see who reacted to your story by going to your story archive and tapping on the reaction icon at the bottom. This will show the list of friends who reacted and their emojis. One thing to note is that you can only see the reactions of friends – reactions from people who are not your friends will not show up.
The number of reactions and list of reacting friends remains visible in your story archive after the 24-hour expiration. So even if the story is no longer live, you can still see the reaction details later on.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get into more details…
Who can react to your Facebook Stories?
The ability to react to Facebook Stories is available to your friends on Facebook as well as followers on Facebook Stories. Here are some specifics:
- Friends who follow your Facebook profile can react to stories you share to your profile story.
- Friends and followers who follow your Facebook Page can react to stories you share to your Page story.
- Friends who follow you back can react to stories you share via Direct Messaging.
So in summary, reactions will come from your two networks on Facebook – friends and followers. Note that friends who don’t follow you on Facebook will not see your stories at all, so they cannot react.
Where do you see reactions to your Facebook Stories?
There are two main places you can view reactions to your Facebook Stories:
- Notifications tab – When someone reacts, you will get a notification which you can tap to see the story and reactions.
- Your Story Archive – Inside the archive, you can tap the reaction icon on a story to see who reacted.
Let’s take a closer look at both areas:
Notifications Tab
After sharing a story, notifications of reactions from friends will appear in your notifications tab (the bell icon on Facebook). It will show which friend reacted and the emoji they used.
Tapping on the notification will open that story within your story archive. This lets you view the reactions again and also reply back if desired.
Story Archive
All your stories including expired ones remain in your story archive. To see reactions, open your archive and tap on a story. Then tap the reaction icon at the bottom (the smiling emoji face).
This will show a list of friends who reacted to that story and the emoji they used. You can scroll through the list to see all reactions.
The number of reactions will also be displayed so you can quickly tell if a story got more traction.
How many people can react to a Facebook Story?
There is no limit to the number of reactions a single Facebook story can receive. All your friends and followers who see the story are able to react to it if they want.
The reaction icon will show a running total of reactions. So this count will increase as more people react over the 24 hour period.
When a story expires, the final reaction count remains visible. So stories that get higher engagement will continue showing that in your archive over time.
Can you react to the same story multiple times?
No, Facebook limits users to a single reaction per story. Once you react with a certain emoji, you cannot change or add another reaction to that specific story.
If you try to react again, it will simply undo your previous reaction. This prevents duplicate reactions from each person.
Can you see who reacted specifically to your reply?
When you reply to reactions on your story, the replies are considered comments. People can react to the comments with Love or a thumbs up.
However, there is currently no way to view who reacted to a specific comment. The reactions on comments are aggregated together into a single count.
Do reactions on expired stories still count?
Yes, any reactions received on a story will continue counting toward the total even after the story expires. The reaction icon shows the total tally.
So if a story got 20 reactions while live, and then gets 10 more reactions after expiring, you’ll see a count of 30 reactions.
This allows you to see which stories created the most engagement long after they disappeared.
Can you delete reactions to your Facebook Stories?
There is no way to delete reactions you’ve received on a Facebook Story as the story owner.
The only way is for each individual user to delete their own reaction. They can do this by opening the story again and tapping to undo their reaction.
But there is no bulk delete option to remove all reactions at once. The creator can only delete the entire story itself if desired.
Do reactions on your Facebook Story notify you each time?
You will receive a notification for every new reaction on your Facebook Stories. So if five friends react, you will get five separate notifications.
This allows you to see each friend that engages with your story in real time as it happens.
However, you can turn off notifications for reactions in your Facebook settings if you find them annoying or distracting.
Can you react to Facebook Stories on desktop?
Unfortunately, reacting to Facebook Stories is only available in the Facebook mobile apps on iOS and Android devices. There is no way to use reactions from the desktop website.
On desktop, you can only view stories – the reaction icons and ability to tap them will not be present. So reacting must be done from your mobile phone or tablet.
Do Stories with more reactions show up differently in Feed?
Facebook does not currently boost the visibility of Stories in friends’ feeds based on high reaction volume. Stories with lots of reactions don’t necessarily have better reach.
In the future, Facebook may consider high engagement factors like reactions to improve ranking. But for now, reactions don’t influence where Stories appear in friends’ feeds.
Conclusion
Reacting to Facebook Stories allows friends to have fun engaging with your content. As the story creator, reactions give you valuable insight into what resonates with your audience.
Checking back on your story archive shows you which stories generated the most interest. You can inspect reactions to pinpoint your most engaging friends and fans.
With notifications and public reaction tallies, Facebook made reactions a social experience. So leverage this feedback to connect with your audience and craft stories people love!