Facebook is getting Emotional

Well there you have it, after 12 years Facebook changed its secret sauce. Gone are the days of a simple Like replaced with the wide variety of: Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry

Call me old fashioned, but I really enjoyed the simplicity of only being able to Like. It was simple, streamlined and looked a bit less cluttered. Now every post has a small rainbow of colors.

This new model really brings in 4 new emotions: Laughter, Shock, Sorrow and Anger. Love is really just hitting the 'Like' button harder. You can see why Facebook has added these. No one wants to like a post about a lost family member or a bad day, Anger and Sorrow work better in these situations.

People have been asking for a 'Dislike' button for years. I can easily see why Facebook did not include this interaction. Facebook has always been a place for positive interactions. Can you only imagine the trolling that could be done with a 'Dislike' button? If you can't, I suggest joining Reddit. Getting downvoted to oblivion can invoke a negative emotional reaction. Facebook would never want this type negative connotation with their product.

I do wonder what Facebook's long term plan is with this feature. While you might think this feature is for you the user. I'd be really surprised if it was. People often forget Facebook is free because you are the product.

Facebook has already admitted to intentionally experimenting with it's users emotions. They have even repeatedly crashed their app to see what your patience level is. Now they have added a new data point for users to openly share with them.

How you emotionally react to something is gold to advertisers. Facebook is adding another data point to be packaged up a sold back to advertisers. Who knows what other ideas they might dream up with this data.