For years, Facebook users have wanted an unlike/dislike button.
Mark Zuckerberg has said it’s tops on their list of FAQs and his public response about it has been “we’re thinking about it.” He continued to say it could be bad for society and a force for bad if not done the right way. Facebook says they want free and open expression and if people get too many unlike clicks, they may be intimidated about posting. So, Facebook is helping our self-esteem? On the surface, this seems like a bit of an over-reaction. Looking deeper, however, it makes perfect sense. They don’t want companies and advertisers to be overwhelmed with quick negative clicks. It’s one thing for a company page to get a not-so-nice comment – at least you know why of it – but an unlike click is a mystery and a drag.
So, after “thinking about it” for years, Facebook has rolled out Reactions. Although the like button has come to be accepted as an acknowledgement, not literally a “like” it was still a bit off-putting to click “like” after reading about your friend’s dog being put to sleep, etc. Now you can use a Reaction: love, haha, wow, sad or angry. And of course, there’s still the like button.
We need to figure out the right way to do it so it ends up being a force for good, not a force for bad.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder and CEO
For personal accounts, the Reaction buttons are a fun way to express your feelings about a post, similar to an emoji and it’s a new way to see what people think about your posts. To access a Reaction, hover over the like button and the choices will appear.
For business pages, at least for now, all Reactions (including like) are treated equally by Facebook and there won’t be a special breakdown for the individual Reactions. But there could still be some value to your brand from the various Reactions.
- Customers who might not leave a comment, particularly if they are on a mobile device, might be more inclined to click a Reaction, resulting in more engagement.
- Customers who might not feel the like button is an appropriate response, might click a Reaction button as an appropriate response.
- The Reactions can help you spot trends, hot spots and areas of concern. In addition to counts on the actual posts, you can get collective information on the Insights section of your page under Posts, All Posts Published, Engagement.
- It allows you to get a more emotional response to your products. So if you introduce the next best things and get lots of love or anger, this provides important intel.
Chevrolet is one of the first big brands to jump head first into Reactions with an ad about the 2016 Malibu. It has catchy slogan, From Love to Like, and it encourages viewers to love the new car on their Facebook page.
https://youtu.be/5gPrAIr5ULw
How does your company plan to use the new Reactions? Please share.
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