It’s official, Facebook has changed the Like button

Or rather, a set of six emoji with which you can react to friends’ Facebook posts now.

Facebook has been testing alternatives to “like” in about a half-dozen countries, including Ireland, Spain and Japan.

In terms of the impact the new Reaction buttons will have on Pages, that’s still not totally clear. “We also looked at how people are already commenting on posts and the top stickers and emoticons as signals for the types of reactions people are already using to determine which reactions to offer”.

“We studied which comments and reactions are most commonly and universally expressed across Facebook, then worked to design an experience around them that was elegant and fun”, Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said in a October 2015 post. It’s launching today on iOS, Android, and the web.

Now instead of a basic thumbs up, users can choose between Love, Wow, Angry, Sad and Haha emoticons. You can get breakdowns for each reaction – the total and specific people.

There was a consensus: There is still no dislike button – or emotions that show sarcasm.

“Not every moment you want to share is happy”. Now, posts marked “angry” or “wow” will bump up, too. Zhuo says Facebook will tweak its formulas based on how people respond.

It took a year to develop: Why so long?

Zuckerberg has always been against creating a “dislike” button, but said these reactions “give you the power to easily express sorrow and empathy – in addition to delight and warmth”. Smartphone users will need to update the Facebook app to see the new feature.