Facebook’s Reactions – New Emojis or New Headaches?

Facebook has unveiled a new way to express your thoughts with a series of new emojis, called Reactions. The long standing “like” button now includes new options like “Love”, “Wow”, “Sad”, “Angry” and more. However, unless you live in Spain or Ireland you’re going to have to wait to try it yourself.

What about “Confused”?

As users we definitely love the new way to show our absolute love, sometimes hatred, for  photos, videos, or event. However, as marketers we may face a new headache.

Facebook analtyics are already hard to decipher as first time users. More data may be beneficial to bigger companies who have the expertise and time to make sense of the data. For smaller businesses and new users this additional data may prove to be a roadblock.

Previously, all we needed to know was the rate of engagement, but now we need to know how positive or negative the Reaction was. However, this may help us differentiate between two ads during A+B. No longer is it just like, but now users can “Love”.

A large downside of Reactions is the probable decline of comments. Currently, many users express displeasure through comments. Negative comments often provide the root of the problem and allow pages to quickly resolve these issues. With Reactions customers can simply report negatively without leaving any actionable feedback.

#Nofilter Newsfeed?

It will be interesting to see how Reactions changes our newsfeeds. I question how these new emotions will rank content in our news feed and change what we see. For instance, how do angry reactions stack up against sad ones or love versus wow?

What’s your Reaction?

As many benefits these Reactions bring to marketers in the form of understanding a customers emotions, these Reactions could create headaches. So far, Facebook’s Reactions have received quite a warm welcome. My conclusion: Reactiosn is a great tool for consumers great for large businesses who have the capacity and time to make sense of these new emotions. However, the headaches for the rest of us might be a little overwhelming.

On a lighter note. Here’s how to NOT use an emoji.