Facebook’s reactions are getting a new addition. Apart from the like, love, haha, wow, sad, angry reactions launched in late 2015, the social media giant is adding a new care reaction.
The new hug reaction will be implemented differently on its main app and on the messenger app and will be meant to show empathy to posts shared on the platform.
The Facebook app will have an animated emoji hugging a heart that is meant to express compassion and support and show that you care about the person who shared the post be it a friend or family during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
On Facebook, we will launch a seventh Reaction alongside the existing six. The new Care Reaction will start rolling out next week globally and you can use it to react to posts, comments, images, videos, or other content on the app and https://t.co/t0PZL74vjg pic.twitter.com/PkpbCoPc4F
— Alexandru Voica (@alexvoica) April 17, 2020
On the messenger app, Facebook has opted to go with a pulsating purple-ish heart.
Messenger is rolling out a pulsating heart Reaction today so people can show extra love and care to their friends and family.
To update the reaction, you can press and hold down the heart reaction to view the new one. To change it back, press and hold the new Reaction again. pic.twitter.com/PufyOsm7zU
— Alexandru Voica (@alexvoica) April 17, 2020
Both are aimed at helping people feel “more connected” as they stay indoors practising social distancing to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The heart reaction is now live on Messenger while the hug reaction will be rolling out globally starting next week.
Facebook has seen a surge in use during this pandemic as more people go online to fight the boredom of being cooped up inside.
This has also led to an increase in the spread of misinformation on the platform and the company began rolling out anti-misinformation messages to the news feeds of people who’ve engaged with false coronavirus information. Disinformation researchers lauded the move with others saying that more needs to be done.
Avaaz would also send a notification to anyone who'd seen misinformation – not just interacted with, but *seen*
If you think your notifications are busy right now… pic.twitter.com/ic2RJaiP2N
— Rowland Manthorpe (@rowlsmanthorpe) April 16, 2020
