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Facebook changes its ‘Like’ button, unveils ‘Reactions’

Posted at 2:46 PM, Feb 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-24 14:46:45-05

NEW YORK -- Facebook is changing the way you like someone's post by giving you more options.  Facebook calls the new feature “Reactions.”

Facebook made the announcement on the Today Show on Wednesday morning.

There’s a throbbing heart for “Love,” a fuming face for “Angry,” a teary-eyed “Sad,” a laughing “Haha,” and a surprised “Wow.”

If you're on your phone, the new buttons appear after you hold down the Like button.

If you're on a computer, you'll see them when you hover your mouse over the Like button.

The changes will be rolled out to users  over the next few days.

Facebook users in Ireland and Spain were the first to be able to express a fuller range of emotions online with a set of new expressions and animated emojis last fall.

“We studied which comments and reactions are most commonly and universally expressed across Facebook, then worked to design an experience around them that was elegant and fun,” Facebook product manager Chris Cox said last year.

Missing from this set of responses is a "dislike" button -- an option CEO Mark Zuckerberg first hinted at in September.

But launching a dislike button would have risked turning Facebook into a place where people vote posts up or down.

"That doesn't seem like the kind of community that we want to create," Zuckerberg said during a town hall Q&A.