It looks like Facebook finally finalized their new expanded "Like" button. They call the new extra like functions "Reactions," and there are 6 of them. These include the standard "Like" as well as Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry. These will obviously give users a wider range and variation on how they respond to Facebook posts.
It certainly took them a while to nail these down, especially when you consider that forums across the web have had this functionality for years. One could argue that Facebook is simply one gigantic social forum, so why couldn't Facebook have expanded this system sooner? Here's what Facebook themselves had to say about that,
"We understand that this is a big change, and want to be thoughtful about rolling this out. For more than a year we have been conducting global research including focus groups and surveys to determine what types of reactions people would want to use most. 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."
Regardless, at least the changes are coming soon. Facebook didn't reveal precisely when these changes would roll out, but we expect it to begin soon. For more info here's Facebook newsroom post: Reactions Now Available Globally | Facebook Newsroom
