A blue thumbs-up isn't always enough to express our thoughts and feelings. So Facebook is now rolling out Reaction emojis to users everywhere.
The social network began testing the symbols in October, allowing a handful of folks around the world to convey love, laughter, happiness, shock, sadness, and anger in one image. "We've been listening to people and know that there should be more ways to easily and quickly express how something you see in News Feed makes you feel," Facebook Product Manager Sammi Krug wrote in a blog post.
Reactions are rolling out now; it could take a few weeks to get to everyone. Once you have them, hold down the like button (on mobile) or hover over it (on the Web) to see the reaction options. Then pick your poison and post; the emojis appear on friends' updates and Pages/accounts you follow.
Initially tested in the fall in Spain and Ireland, the expressive icons are also in use in Chile, Portugal, the Philippines, and most recently, Japan.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg last year said Facebook was considering how to incorporate a "dislike" button, or at least "something that allows you to express 'empathy' with 'more options.'" Reactions aim to do just that, letting users give instant feedback to friends without actually writing a message.
The program is based on global research, including focus groups and surveys to determine what types of reactions people use most. Facebook even examined how folks comment on posts and which stickers and emoticons they commonly use.
"In the beginning, it won't matter if someone likes, 'wows' or 'sads' a post—we will initially use any Reaction similar to a like to infer that you want to see more of that type of content," Krug said. "Over time we hope to learn how the different Reactions should be weighted differently by News Feed to do a better job of showing everyone the stories they most want to see."
Whatever you do, don't get caught in a "dislike" button scam, which hackers claim is an "invite-only feature" in a bid to get users to click a malicious download link.
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.