"Like" buttons are so passé - Facebook unveils new "reactions"

The social media giant will begin testing these new reactions in Spain and Ireland. Users there will be able to select the traditional “like” button, as well as a heart-shaped “love” button, a “haha” button with a laughing emoticon, a smiling “yay” emoticon, a surprised looking “wow” emoticon, a crying “sad” emoticon and finally a red-faced “angry” emoticon.

Simply hold the traditional “like” button down for half a second and the options will appear on a pop-up menu.

Users will be able to use any of the reactions on status updates of friends, advertisers, publishers, or businesses.

Facebook will use the addition of the reactions to refine their newsfeed algorithm. They will assume that you’ll want to see more or less of a type of post based on how you react to it.

Owners of business pages will be able to see reactions to all of their posts on page insights and it will impact ad delivery in much the same way “likes” do.

Facebook is waiting to see what the reaction is like for the two locations before opening up the option to the world.