The web reacts to Facebook’s Reactions

Ben Moss.
February 25, 2016
The web reacts to Facebook’s Reactions.
It’s inappropriate to ‘Like’ someone’s firing, breakup, fashion disaster, or untimely demise. That’s the conundrum Facebook has been struggling with since it introduced its ‘Like’ button seven years ago. Today, after announcing the move last year, Facebook has rolled out its new ‘Reactions’ to all users. The six buttons—Like, Love, Wow, Sad, Bashful, and Sneezy—are intended to convey the full spectrum of human emotion, or at least give users more options to express themselves than they previous had. Facebook’s ‘Like’ feature has been so fundamental to the definitive social network that it’s part of its branding; as recognizable, if not more so (especially after last year’s rebrand) than the company logotype itself. It’s a modern-classic problem for a startup that has outgrown its original use-case: the UI that users are accustomed to, no longer reflects the tasks users are trying to accomplish. Twitter faced a similar issue in 2015 when it rebranded its star icon as a heart. It’s a problem LinkedIn would bite your hand off to be troubled by. In a Medium post on the design process, Product Design Director at Facebook, Geoff Teehan acknowledged the potential teething problems:
We needed to thoughtfully curate any change so it felt like a natural evolution, taking care not to feel abrupt or disrupt everyone on our platform
Strangely, given how important this update is to Facebook, the icons are both visually, and semantically inconsistent: only the ‘Like’ and ‘Love’ buttons are icons, the other four reactions are emoticons; ‘Like’ is a mild version of ‘Love’, but there’s no ‘Mild Distain’ reaction to partner ‘Hate’; ‘Wow’ could be both positive, or negative. Do you send someone ‘Love’ when they’re bereaved?

Ben Moss

Ben Moss is Senior Editor at WebdesignerDepot. He’s designed and coded work for award-winning startups, and global names including IBM, UBS, and the FBI. One of these days he’ll run a sub-4hr marathon. Say hi on Twitter.

Popular Posts

Read Next

Exciting New Tools for Designers, November 2023

We’ve got a mix of handy image helpers, useful design assets, and clever productivity tools, amongst other treats. Some…

The Dangers of Doomscrolling for Designers and How to Break Free

As a creative professional, navigating the digital realm is second nature to you. It’s normal to follow an endless…

From Image Adjustments to AI: Photoshop Through the Years

Remember when Merriam-Webster added Photoshop to the dictionary back in 2008? Want to learn how AI is changing design…

3 Essential Design Trends, November 2023

In the season of giving thanks, we often think of comfort and tradition. These are common themes with each of our three…

30 Obsolete Technologies that will Perplex Post-2000s Kids

Remember the screech of dial-up internet? Hold fond memories of arcade machines? In this list, we’re condensing down 30…

15 Best New Fonts, October 2023

We’re entering the final quarter of 2023, and even in the pre-holiday lull, there are still plenty of fonts to get…

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs): Unlocking The Future of Mobile-First Web Development

There are over 5.4 billion mobile users today, meaning that over 68% of the population tap into an online business via…

The 12 Most Controversial Ad Campaigns of the 21st Century

How far would an organization be willing to go for the chance to generate a little extra buzz? In this list, we're…

20 Best New Websites, October 2023

The Bento trend is still going strong: In some cases, we see this extend to the layout, but many more are picking…

Exciting New Tools for Designers, October 2023

This month, we have a whole bag of goodies for designers, developers, and designevelopers alike. (Yes, we did just make…

The 10 Most Successful Rebrands of All Time - Ranked

We’re all familiar with rebrands going wrong, but what happens when they go right? From McDonald’s health kick to…

3 Essential Design Trends, October 2023

Every now and then, website design trends can leave you scratching your head. This month’s collection includes some of…