Still no “dislike” button for Facebook. But it’s added the next best things.
Beginning Feb. 24, users can choose from six different reactions to friends’ posts: “like,” “love,” “haha,” “wow,” “sad” and “angry.”
The social network rejected adding a “dislike” button, fearing that it would create a negative environment. But the new emoji reactions could cause other problems.
One obvious consequence is that they give users an opportunity to put angry faces all over the Facebook pages of political candidates they disagree with.
Beyond that, companies could use the new reactions for marketing campaigns.
Paying endorsers to “like” a product or business could be misleading, as there’s no space within the button to disclose that users clicked it as part of a paid campaign, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s updated guidance on social media endorsements.
Still, marketers may not be able to resist the lure of the new “love” button when taken with all the hype surrounding the new emojis.
Another possibility is that companies may lure users into clicking “sad” or “angry” on competing businesses’ Facebook posts. Although these reactions may not have the same effect as “dislike”—or written negative reviews—gathering a number of “sad” reactions could hardly be seen as beneficial when introducing a new product.
While businesses and political campaigns sort out the implications, though, Facebook users can have more fun than ever expressing their “love” and laughter for one another’s posts.