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Facebook just introduced the biggest change since the 'Like' button

Facebook Reactions
Facebook

The biggest change to Facebook in years involves five emojis.

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Starting Wednesday, the iconic Like button is being joined by five playful emojis called "Love," "Haha," "Wow," "Sad," and "Angry." Facebook calls them Reactions, and they are being flipped on in the social network's mobile apps and website globally.

Facebook thinks of Reactions as an extension of the Like button. They are meant to help its 1.44 billion users show empathy in the instances where leaving a 'like' may not feel like the most appropriate response. 

"People come to Facebook to share all kinds of things," Sammi Krug, Facebook Reactions product manager, told Tech Insider in an interview. "And those things are often happy. They're sometimes sad. They're sometimes thought-provoking. They are things that people get angry at."

Facebook formed a team to build Reactions one year ago under the guidance of CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the company's head of product, Chris Cox. "We've been hearing for awhile from people that they don't really have a great way to respond to these things in a way that feels really, really authentic to the way they feel," Krug said.

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Screen Shot 2016 02 24 at 11.25.39 AM
How Reactions will look in your News Feed. Facebook

Reactions can be accessed by pressing (or clicking) and holding on the Like button for any post, photo, or video on Facebook. One very intentional thing you won't find as part of Reactions is a dislike button.

Facebook toyed with adding a dislike button, but Krug said it "felt very binary" to Zuckerberg and the rest of the team. They wanted a way for users to express a range of emotions, whether it be excitement for a friend's engagement or sadness over the death of a relative.

Reactions Graphics
Facebook

Facebook has been testing Reactions for the past few months in Spain, Ireland, Chile, Portugal, The Philippines, Japan, and Colombia. It consulted emotion researchers, surveyed users, and observed how each emoji was used to make sure that all of the Reactions made sense culturally throughout a "diverse array of countries," Krug said.

That's why a sixth "Yay" and "Confused" emojis didn't make the final cut. Facebook found that they were both "too vague" of a response in certain cultures. In the seven countries where Facebook has been testing Reactions, Krug said "Love" has been the most used emoji by far.

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