Facebook’s “like” button has become an iconic feature of the social media platform since its introduction in 2009. The simple thumbs-up icon enabled users to easily show approval or support for posts and comments with one click. However, Facebook eventually realized that a single “like” button was limiting – people have a wider range of emotions and sentiments they want to share.
This led to the launch of Facebook’s emoji reaction feature in 2016. Along with the original “like” button, the emoji reactions provided users with the ability to react to posts with “love,” “haha,” “wow,” “sad,” and “angry” emoji. Tapping on one of these emoji under a post immediately reacts with that emoji, providing more nuanced feedback to the content creator and other viewers.
Why did Facebook add emoji reactions?
There were a few key reasons why Facebook expanded the like button with emoji reaction options:
- More emotional expression – The standard like button was too limiting. Users wanted to express a wider range of emotions like love, humor, sadness, and anger.
- Nuanced feedback – A single thumbs-up like can be ambiguous in terms of what exactly the user liked about the content. The emoji reactions provide more nuanced feedback.
- Alignment with global communication – Emojis and emoticon-style expressions are a huge part of modern digital communication in apps and messages around the world.
- Trending with mobile – Facebook noticed the uptick in emoji usage, especially in messaging apps, and wanted to integrate the visual language into their platform.
- Enhanced analytics – The emoji reactions give Facebook more detailed analytics and insights into how users are engaging with content.
Overall, the emoji reaction feature allowed Facebook users to interact with posts in a more natural, expressive way – aligning with both the global rise in emoji communication and users’ desire for more reactive options beyond the like button.
How do you use emoji reactions on Facebook?
Using emoji reactions on Facebook posts and comments is very simple:
- Click on the “Like” button below any post or comment
- This will open a pop-up menu of the available emoji reactions: Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry
- Click on the emoji reaction you want to use
- The button for the emoji you selected will appear below the post, along with the total reaction count
- To change your reaction, click the button again and select a different emoji from the pop-up menu
You can use emoji reactions on posts and comments from friends, pages you follow, and groups you’ve joined. The reactions appear in-line to provide visual feedback and accumulate real-time counts to show the overall reaction sentiment.
What emoji reactions are available?
Facebook originally launched with just the 5 emoji reactions of Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry. Here are some details on each of these:
Like
- The classic thumbs up icon that evolved from the original Like button
- Signals general approval, support, or positivity for the content
Love
- A heart eyes emoji face showing stronger affection
- Use to show love, enthusiasm, deeper affinity
Haha
- A laughing/crying face emoji conveying humor and comedy
- React with laughter at funny posts, comments, images, or videos
Wow
- A surprised face with wide eyes and mouth agape
- Conveys awe, amazement, fascination, or disbelief
Sad
- A clearly frowny face showing sorrow or sympathy
- Use to express sadness, condolences, disappointment, or concern
Angry
- A mad face conveying outrage, frustration, or disgust
- Shows strong disapproval or outrage at content
These 6 emoji reactions encompass the most common sentiments Facebook users wanted to express. They provide a good expanded vocabulary beyond the single Like button. However, Facebook has continued adding new reactions periodically based on demand and cultural trends.
New emoji reactions added
Since the original 6 emoji reactions launched, Facebook has added a number of new ones over time:
| Emoji Reaction | Year Added |
|---|---|
| Thankful | 2017 |
| Pride | 2017 |
| Care | 2020 |
| Haha | 2021 |
| Sorry | 2021 |
The Thankful and Pride reactions were added to enhance expressing appreciation and LGBTQ identities and causes. Care and Pray were introduced in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to convey caring, comfort, and solidarity.
In 2021, Facebook conducted an interesting experiment by replacing the Angry reaction temporarily with a Laugh reaction. This was intended to promote positivity and joy rather than outrage and anger. However, Facebook ultimately brought back the Angry button due to popular demand.
Sorry was also introduced in 2021 as a way for users to politely react when they may have accidentally offended someone or shared something inappropriate.
Facebook will likely continue expanding the emoji reactions periodically when new meaningful sentiments emerge in society and culture.
How many Likes vs reactions on Facebook?
While Facebook does not report official statistics, emoji reactions certainly represent a significant portion of all reactions today. When they first launched, emoji made up over half (64%) of all reactions on Facebook within just 2 weeks.
By April 2017, Facebook reported that reactions had grown 5X worldwide. There were over 300 million reactions per day, with the Love reaction being the most commonly used.
A 2021 study of over 850,000 Facebook posts found that the Like and Love reactions dominated with 66% and 25% respectively. The other reactions each represented less than 10%.
So while the traditional Like remains the top reaction, emoji reactions like Love have grown enormously prominent. Emoji reactions likely now make up over 75%+ of all reactions on Facebook daily.
How do Facebook reactions affect algorithms?
Facebook’s News Feed and other algorithmic sorting processes take reactions into account as signals for relevance and preferences. So using emoji reactions can influence what you see in your feeds.
In 2016, Facebook confirmed that its ranking algorithm incorporates reactions similarly to Likes. So posts with more Wow or Love reactions will be boosted higher than posts with more Angry or Sad reactions.
The reactions provide Facebook with enhanced emotional sentiment data to understand how users feel about certain content. More positively reacting posts will surface higher and more often to users.
In addition, frequently reacting with a specific emoji can signal your preferences to Facebook. So you may see more funny or laughter-inducing content if you commonly choose the Haha reaction.
Do Facebook reactions notify people?
When you react to a Facebook post or comment using an emoji, it does not directly notify the person who created that content by default.
You can tag a friend in your reaction to notify them. But otherwise, reactions act similarly to Likes in terms of notifications.
The person will only be notified if their post or comment gets reacted to by a large number of different people consecutively within a short period of time. This prevents excessive notifications.
Can you take back a Facebook reaction?
Yes, Facebook allows you to easily change or undo a reaction you’ve made to a post or comment:
- Hover over the reaction you want to take back
- Click on the emoji again to open the reaction selector
- Choose a different reaction, or click the Like button to remove your reaction entirely
Your previous reaction will be immediately removed, and the new reaction or lack of reaction will update. You can toggle reactions as often as you like.
Do deleted posts keep reactions?
When a Facebook post or comment is deleted by the creator or a moderator, all reactions and comments associated with that post are deleted as well.
The counts for reactions and comments will immediately disappear. And the content can no longer be interacted with.
So unlike a Twitter retweet for example, Facebook reactions do not persist if the original content gets taken down or deleted from the platform.
Are reactions anonymous?
Facebook reactions are not anonymous by default. Any reactions you make to public posts and comments can be seen by anyone who has access to that content.
Your friends and the broader public will be able see your reactions in-line and identify that you reacted via your name and profile picture.
However, Facebook does offer more private reaction options in Groups and Messenger where reactions can be made visible to just the original poster rather than everyone.
You can also limit old reactions visibility in your Activity Log. But otherwise, reactions are public and attributed to your account and identity.
Can Pages see who reacted to their posts?
Yes, Facebook Pages and content creators can see which specific users reacted to any of their public posts. This provides useful analytics.
Page admins can click on the reaction icons under a post to open a pop-up showing a list of users who reacted with that emoji. Profiles who have reacted will appear with their name and profile picture.
So Pages can identify their top engaged users, seeing exactly who is liking, loving, or using other reactions to their content. This helps understand their audience sentiment and engagement.
Are reactions used on Facebook Messenger?
In addition to Facebook posts and comments, emoji reactions are also available for users to quickly respond in Facebook Messenger conversations.
When you hold down on a Messenger chat bubble, the same emoji reaction selector pops up. You can react to messages with like, love, laugh, surprise, sadness, and anger emojis.
These Messenger reactions behave a bit differently than public post reactions. By default, they are only visible to the sender rather than all chat participants.
Messenger reactions also notify the sender when used. And you can react multiple times to convey stronger sentiment.
Do emoji reactions work on Facebook mobile app?
The Facebook emoji reactions feature is fully available and functional in Facebook’s iOS and Android mobile apps. Reacting works the same way.
To react on mobile, press and hold down on a post or comment. This will open the reaction emoji selector.
Tap the emoji you want to use to react. The mobile interface makes reacting very quick and easy while scrolling the News Feed.
Are emoji reactions available on Facebook desktop site?
In addition to mobile apps, the Facebook emoji reactions are fully supported on the desktop website when accessing Facebook in a browser.
Hover your mouse pointer over the Like button under any post or comment. This opens the reaction selector popup.
Click one of the emojis to react. The process is very similar to mobile, just adapted for desktop mouse input.
Do Facebook emoji reactions show on Instagram?
The emoji reactions feature is exclusive to Facebook’s core app and Messenger at this time. Reactions do not appear on Instagram posts.
Instagram uses its own Like button and comparison hearts feature for posts. Though Instagram and Facebook are connected services under Meta, their features remain separate in this case.
So reacting on an Instagram post via Facebook will not display the emoji. Users coming from Instagram back to a Facebook post would not see reactions used by Facebook users and vice versa.
Conclusion
Facebook’s emoji reaction feature has evolved the Like button into a richer, more expressive method for engaging with social content. Users can now easily convey a wider array of reactions and sentiments entirely through visual icons.
Reactions like Love, Haha, Wow, and Sad have become extremely popular ways to interact beyond the standard Like. Facebook will likely continue expanding the reaction options over time as cultural communication and expectations shift.
The emoji reactions provide more natural user experiences on both desktop and mobile. And they give content creators and Pages enhanced analytics into how their communities are engaging emotionally. Overall, reactions modernized and enlivened commenting on Facebook in a compelling way aligned with emoji and reaction usage across the digital landscape.