10 fun facts about Facebook Reactions you probably didn’t know of

Last Updated on 2016-05-19 , 1:50 pm

Recently, Facebook unveiled new additions to the “Like” button – yes Reactions! With the additional Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry reactions, Facebook users can more accurately express their emotions. Here are 10 Fun Facts you probably don’t know!

It was created because “Like” can be inappropriate
A few years ago, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook has announced limitations to the “Like” button. For example, what happens if you announce the passing of a loved one? Reactions were created in response.

“Dislike” too
Instead of having the opposite, “Dislike”, reactions were created to introduce a variety of emotions. A “Dislike” button can create more ways of cyber-bullying, and its negative tone may persuade people to be more vocal about their negative opinions online.

You may not have them!
Facebook has created Betas only for a few countries, so some countries may not even have these reactions. It is only recently revealed, so keep a lookout for them!

Only one reaction for a post
You may feel Angry, and Sad at the same time, but there’s only a limit of one reaction for a post.

Facebook highlights only 3 reactions
For the most popular reactions, only 3 will be highlighted – we don’t know why, maybe less popular reactions are not important anyway?

They can be used by law enforcement and intelligence agencies
Our reactions to other people’s post can determine if these posts are ethical, or moral. Posts that are sexist, racist or harmful in general can be tracked by agencies. Be careful of what you post!

They MAY be used to alter what we see on our feeds
For example, if I “Wow” at cute puppy videos, Facebook may track how many similar videos I have “Wow”-ed at. This means that they may alter the content we see and you’ll end up “Wow”-ing at more cute puppy videos. Isn’t that good?

…And this affects what we know of the world
This, on the other hand, limits what we see. What if I want to see cute cat videos too and they are just not available for me to “Wow” them in the first place if my feed is flooded with puppy videos?

Facebook consulted a social psychology
Facebook consulted Dacher Keltner, a psychologist who also served as a consultant to Pixar’s Inside Out. Yes, the movie about emotions – how apt!

There are more positive emotions
It’s a good thing there are more positive emotions than negative – we can only display positive reactions, meaning bad reactions are limited, giving Facebook users more opportunities to express positive emotions!

Top image: weedezign / Shutterstock.com