Love is the new like on Facebook

Still, if you’ve ever felt emotionally stunted on Facebook, this is a great day for you.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in September that the “dislike” button was not coming “because we don’t want to turn Facebook into a forum where people are voting up or down on people’s posts”. If the Facebook reactions have reached your country, the new reactions should pop up in a bar above.

Facebook users are set to get more options beyond the fate of a Roman gladiator when it comes to other people’s posts. Think of having to flip through pages and pages of emojis: Do you want one wink, a tear, a full frown or a half frown?

But launching a dislike button would have risked turning Facebook into a place where people vote posts up or down.

The social media giant rolled out five new buttons which appear as emoticons when the “Like” button is hovered over (on desktops) or held down (on mobile devices).

The result is Reactions, which allow you to express love, laughter, surprise, sadness or anger.

If the new emoji buttons aren’t appearing on your phone, completely close the app and then try again.

In a statement on the firm’s blog a spokesperson said: “We understand that this is a big change, and want to be thoughtful about rolling this out”. That is, using “wow”, “sad”, or any other reaction will signal to Facebook that you should see more of that type of post. With the new reactions, this just means you’re fine with whatever post is shared.

Facebook tested Reactions in Ireland, Japan and Spain a year ago, and the feedback has been positive so far.

Facebook launched its new reactions buttons across the world yesterday just in time for the Brit Awards.

In contrast, user Diane Bjorling welcomed the new tools.

Now that users can do more than simply hit that “like” button to mindlessly react to a post, will people actually take the time to click and select the appropriate emoji? “I am happy with these ‘reactions, ‘” she wrote.