It’s been in the works for a while and now it’s here. I’m talking about the new Facebook ‘Reactions,’ of course! Facebook finally unveiled the new reactions that you’ll probably want to use if you use Facebook. Ready to show the world how you really feel about something? Here’s how to do it.

Mobile Devices At the Ready!

When using a mobile device, hold your finger down on the ‘like’ button, and you will see a variety of reactions (faces) pop up. When you choose one of these faces, you can respond to a post with the proper reaction. The reactions are animated and they include angry, sad, wow, and like. Those are the only reactions available, so if you’re feeling, frustrated, let’s say, you’re out of luck.

For some reason, Facebook decided to get rid of the ‘Yay’ reaction that was part of the beta test. So you can’t use yay either. But, any of the aforementioned reactions are better than just picking like, right? So why did Facebook decide that the world needed more smiley faces? It begins with beta testing.

No Dislike Button

You may be surprised to learn that the new reactions do not include a dislike button. Why Facebook hasn’t included a dislike button is unknown at this time is unclear, but the button still doesn’t exist. For now, you’ll have to settle on one of the buttons that does currently exist. Facebook decided to add the new responses to the social media site because people wanted additional ways to show personal reactions to status updates.

If you have a smartphone or other mobile device, you should be able to test out the new responses right now. Simply follow the steps above to see whether or not you can choose a different reaction face. Some users have reported this morning that they cannot actually see the reactions, so let me know if you can’t.

Reactions

While some people like using emoticons endlessly (just look at the latest text messages sent to you - I’m betting that nine out of ten had some kind of smiley face attached!), others are upset at the new reactions feature. Why? To some, it seems like the English language is already being dumbed down, and adding more smiley faces to the mix will just cut back on language. You may not get any real responses at all to Facebook posts now. It’s possible that you might just get a bunch of smiley faces.

The bright side of this is that you won’t have to stumble through as much bad grammar now, right? Also, your Facebook feed will look a lot happier with all of those smiley faces.

The reactions buttons have been available in other parts of the world for a few months now, but Facebook has just released the buttons in North America this week. If you can’t live without loads of smiley faces, you’ll love the new Facebook additions. It will be interesting to see whether or not the majority of Facebook uses like the new reactions buttons or not.