• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

3

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

3

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Tech

Facebook’s Iconic ‘Like’ Button Gets More Emotional

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 24, 2016, 8:00 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Facebook is about to shake up one of its most iconic symbols: the “like” button.

After months of speculation—and even leaks of early tests—the social network is finally giving users more options for reacting to all the baby photos, exasperating news stories, and cute kitten videos posted on the service. Now, they will be able to select one of six icons to express how they feel.

Along with the famous light blue thumb, the icons now include a read heart (“love”), a laughing face (“haha”), a surprised face (“wow”), a tearing face (“sad”), and an angry face (“angry”). To select one, users hover above or tap the “like” button until a menu of options pop up.

Facebook Reactions on Mobile

Facebook chose the five newcomers after roughly a year of brainstorming, data crunching, and various tests, Facebook News Feed engineering director Tom Alison told Fortune in an interview. In particular, the team took a deep look at trends in user comments, especially short comments of one to three words, and the cartoon-like image some people use in place of comments that Facebook introduced in 2014.

“It became pretty clear that it wasn’t going to be about ‘like’ or ‘dislike,’ and it wasn’t going to be 100 reactions,” Alison said about his team’s decision. In the end, it was about keeping things simple, he added.

Facebook also wanted its new options to be universal. Today, the social network is available in almost all countries, and in more than 70 languages. As part of its research, Facebook ran tests in a handful of countries including Spain, Ireland, and the Philippines to see how the new icons translated across languages and cultures. Early tests with reactions “yay!” and “confused,” for example, didn’t fare well with all users, according to Alison, so they didn’t make the cut.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Since Facebook first introduced the “like” button in early 2009, some users have clamored for a “dislike” button. However, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed the idea largely over concerns that it would make online bullying easier, something social media services already work hard to combat.

But according to former Facebook designer Soleio Cuervo, who is often credited for the original “like” button’s design, the delay in adding alternatives hasn’t been because of sheer stubbornness.

“It’s not like Facebook was religious about it being a single option,” he told Fortune in an interview. Although he’s yet to try the new options, he says they appear to be very much in the spirit of the original button. “I think it’s a terrific idea,” he added.

The shift to mobile devices is also critical to making the new buttons work. In 2009, smartphones had barely caught on, Facebook had no mobile strategy, and Cuervo’s team was thinking in terms of what worked best for desktop computers.

“The ‘like’ button was for a point-and-click environment,” he explained, while the new reactions seem to be designed for smartphone users.

Still, the new options are a big departure from Facebook’s lone “like” button, and are likely to anger some users. It’s also unclear how Facebook will use the reactions to tailor what users see in their personalized News Feeds. While “likes” have been interpreted as positive signals for Facebook’s algorithm, the new reactions could bring more nuance. For the time being, Facebook won’t distinguish between the different buttons, but down the line, they could be used to help avoid incidents like photos of dead family members appearing in a user’s year-end photo montage just because they received at lot of “likes” as a form of empathy.

But for now, Facebook is focused on rolling out the new reactions buttons globally over the next few days.

An earlier version of this article misquoted former Facebook designer Soleio Cuervo about Facebook’s philosophy on adding alternatives to its “like” button. He said the company was always open to other “options,” not “accents.” The article has been updated.

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big TechNvidia
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
2 hours ago
Dell’s AI boom is real, but so is the profit margin hit nobody is pricing in
AIDell Technologies
Dell’s AI boom is real, but so is the profit margin hit nobody is pricing in
By Mia OsmonbekovJune 30, 2026
14 hours ago
Image of colored bar charts with one being pushed up.
NewslettersEye on AI
AI is minting billion-dollar companies faster than before
By Beatrice NolanJune 30, 2026
16 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei pointing to his head.
AIAnthropic
At the heart of Anthropic’s clashes with the U.S. government, a decision not to play by the new rules of Trump’s Washington
By Jeremy KahnJune 30, 2026
19 hours ago
wb
CommentaryLeadership
I grew BDO from $600 million to $3.4 billion. Here’s the 3-part formula that made it possible
By Wayne BersonJune 30, 2026
20 hours ago
vinod
CommentaryData centers
Vinod Khosla: AI’s energy crisis has a fix — and it doesn’t need the grid
By Vinod KhoslaJune 30, 2026
20 hours ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
6 days ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
4 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
2 days ago
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
AI
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
By Catherina GioinoJune 29, 2026
1 day ago
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
Commentary
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
By Marc AndersenJune 30, 2026
21 hours ago
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
Environment
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
By Catherina GioinoJune 28, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.