There have been several years since we first heard rumors about Facebook implementing a Dislike button, to highlight the fact that you do not like a post, or simply do not agree with it. It seems such button will never be added. Instead, the alternative to the Dislike button will come as Facebook Reactions, a new series of emoticons that are relevant in a more dense set of circumstances.
The project is not something new, it existed for quite some time, but because the folks at Facebook don’t have yet a clear vision of what the public’s reaction will be to replacing the Like button, the replacement will happen in stages.
In practice, it will take several weeks util you can use Facebook Reactions and understand why you should be excited about their existence. Those new emoticons will be able to more accurately convey your feelings in relation to a topic or condition which resulted from a post. It was gruesome to press the Like button in the context of a death or an accident, and soon you will no longer have to go through this.
The first countries to see the new change were Ireland and Spain. The implementation process continued in Chile, and in November of last year has finished in Portugal and the Philippines. Today, the Facebook users from Japan are the most recent participants in the process of “reinventing” the Like button.
Facebook officials did not insist too much on details regarding the propagation process for the new function, but it should not take very long until it will be fully implemented for the rest of the world.