Skip to main content

Angry at that Facebook comment? Now you can say it with emojis

facebook tests downvote button 55060497 ml
Nataliya Popova / 123RF
Get ready for more “wow” and “sad” emojis invading Facebook — now, the social media giant’s Reactions are available for comments, extending their use beyond original posts and Messenger. The comment reactions are now rolling out to both desktop and mobile users, though the feature may not be universally available just yet.

Reactions turn the traditional “like” into a wider variety of emotions represented by emoji icons, including love, haha, wow, angry, and sad. Instead of receiving a notification for a like, the owner of that post, message, or now comment receives a notification on the number of users that “reacted.” For the users who have long been requesting an “unlike” button to interact with something that they don’t “like” at all, it’s a way to interact with a more accurate response, while critics of the feature say it’s unnecessary and fills the platform with too many emojis.

Reactions first rolled out to users in posts only last year, offering a new range of responses to status updates, either text or photo-based. Reactions then moved to Messenger in March, allowing even private chat messages to be tagged with an emoji response. The Messenger feature includes the same reactions along with a yes or a no — in case typing out a yes or no response is too slow.

Now, users have the option to react to comments, like this:

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The latest Reaction feature is being offered in response to user feedback, Facebook says. “We’ve heard from people they’d like more ways to show their reaction in conversations on Facebook, so we’re rolling out the ability to react to comments,” a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable.

When the feature first launched, Facebook said it would continue to listen to feedback to refine the reactions, though outside of holiday-themed emojis, the same original five reactions are still in use. While the reactions remain the same, they have migrated from public posts to private messages and back to public comments.

Like most new Facebook features, the comment functionality for Reactions isn’t launching to every user all at once, but users that don’t yet see the feature should notice the change over the next few days.

Editors' Recommendations

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
You can bid for Twitter’s bird statue right now
Elon Musk carrying a sink into Twitter's headquarters.

If you’re looking for a strong centerpiece for your lounge or living room, then a statue of Twitter’s iconic bird motif could be just the ticket.

The social media company is auctioning off the bird statue -- along with a ton of other gear -- from its headquarters in San Francisco.

Read more
Are your Instagram comments not showing up? You’re not alone
Instagram being used on an iPhone.

Instagram has recently seen a notable feature update with the addition of "Notes," an away-message style bit of text that users can customize, but in addition to the new change, some users have noticed that they can't see or leave comments under photos and Reels. If you've noticed this change and are a little bit confused, don't worry, you're not alone.

Here's what you need to know about what's happening with Instagram comments.
Why Instagram comments are gone

Read more
Instagram and Facebook down? You’re not alone
Turned on smartphone with Instagram app icon on its screen.

Thursday morning. The work week is almost over, the weekend is just around the corner ... and that also apparently means that you can't use Instagram or Facebook. At the time of publication on Thursday, October 27, both Instagram and Facebook appear to be down.

Looking at Down Detector, reports for the outage spiked around 9:40 a.m. with 2,000+ reports. For Facebook, 65% of users are having issues with the website, another 29% are having problems with the app, and 6% are reporting issues with their feed/timeline.

Read more