October 9, 2015: It seems that Facebook is on the cusp of launching a successor to its outmoded, binary “Like” button. The social networking service’s choice of Emojis is logical, given that Emojis have been found to accommodate a much wider range of conversational nuance, thus enabling the production of more granular data streams more valuable for audience targeting purposes.
Facebook’s Emoji Reactions line up is (from left to right):
1. Like (same as it ever was)
2. Love (“Like” on steroids)
3. Haha (non-sarcastic humor)
4. Yay (presumably “right on” or “you go, girl/guy!”)
5. Wow (surprise, shock, awe)
6. Sad
7. Angry
Implications for Brands
According to early reports, Facebook users and brands will not have the option of disabling the Emojis once they are rolled out. Consequently, brand managers, messaging pundits, and social media directors are wrestling with several serious questions that were unthinkable a week ago, including:
1. How will the appearance of the “Love” metric affect the pre-existing value of the “Like” metric in Facebook’s algorithm? Furthermore, what is a the exact quantitative relationship between a “Like” and a “Love”? Is 1 “Love” worth 2 “Likes?” or is it more complicated than that?
2. Given that academic research demonstrates that virality is valence-neutral (i.e. posts inducing anger in the subject can travel as quickly as posts inducing positive emotional states), should brands be overly concerned if Facebook users signify that the brand is making people “Sad” or “Angry?”
3. Currently, Facebook’s plans for Emojis appear to “radio-button”-style (i.e. only one icon can be selected at a time for any given post). But given that many Facebook posts can produce more than one emotion at a time (e.g. “I’m shocked and saddened” or “I’m in awe but also very angry”), will multiple selections be possible? If so, when?
4. Will Facebook’s Emojis be extended beyond Facebook to websites linking to Facebook areas? (Right now, one can only “Like” the Facebook page from the external site). If so, will the existing code need to be replaced with new code?
5. Will Emoji-style ratings be applicable just to posts, or will they extend to ads? If enough Facebook users “Love” or “Like” a given ad, will Facebook’s algorithm reward such an ad with any advantage in respect to bid price?
6. What is the correct corporate response if it becomes determined that people are “Haha”-ing the brand instead of “Liking” or “Loving” It?
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