Facebook today revealed a test in Ireland and Spain involving six emoji-based buttons that give users the option to express sentiments other than “like.” The new possibilities—which appear alongside the “like” button—include “love,” “haha,” “yay,” “wow,” “sad” and “angry.”
So far, the business world appears to be in favor of the sentiment buttons, which Facebook calls Reactions. Six of the seven marketers Adweek spoke with were decidedly eager to see the buttons rolled out to the social site’s U.S. audience.
Indeed, when the emojis become permanent fixtures on Facebook worldwide, it will affect marketers because the tallies for like, wow and angry will show how users really feel about the branded content. There appear to be ramifications for Facebook’s news feed algorithm, but how exactly that plays out won’t be known for some time.
Mike Proulx, evp and director of digital strategy and tech innovation at agency Hill Holliday, said Facebook’s emojis reflect how the world in general has embraced the fun-looking ideograms, which got their start in Japan.
“A move toward broader emoji-like ways to give instant feedback on Facebook posts is a smart one—and long overdue,” Proulx added.
Jason Stein, CEO at Laundry Service, concurred. “Over time, likes on Facebook became a lightweight, proxy metric.”
A richer offering of negative sentiment stats can help social-media specialists do their jobs better, said David Carter, chief creative officer at Mithun.
“The data will help marketers break down the posts more specifically,” Carter said. “It’s super easy for someone to click on the ‘like’ button. But if a person takes the time to select one of several buttons, I’d say that’s a higher level of engagement.”
It’s not a small move by the social network, which for years has shown a predilection for tweaking its platform (sometimes to the chagrin of its users).
“Facebook has taken a big step towards providing consumers with a louder voice for brands to listen to,” said Todd Grossman, CEO at Talkwalker.
