Facebook Launches New Reactions

For some time, Facebook users have been asking for more robust ways to interact with their friend’s posts. Facebook finally rolled out the long-awaited feature this month. Now Facebook users can “React” to posts: Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry. What does this mean for dental practice social media? Not only can you expect to see your followers interact with you in new ways but you have more flexibility to post content.

Before facebook reactions, some content was harder to interact with. For example, we shared an interesting story about a woman who made her husband’s wisdom tooth into a ring. We got lots of reactions, but more comments than likes. Sometimes people are interested in interacting with your content, but a like isn’t the right response. In the example of the tooth ring, a Wow reaction is perfect. And for your personal browsing pleasure- the angry feature is all set for you to use when your aunt or uncle post yet another article in favor of their political candidate. Reactions now allow you and dental patients following your page to respond to a post more accurately and authentically.

How do you react? If you’re on your phone, the new buttons appear after you hold down the Like button. If you’re on a computer, you’ll see them when you hover your mouse over the Like button.

Many people, including us, are surprised Facebook didn’t offer a thumbs down button. Zuckerberg did not want to turn Facebook into Reddit, a site where people use a thumbs up or down. “That doesn’t seem like the kind of community that we want to create,” Zuckerberg said during a town hall Q&A. We’re wondering if the angry reaction will have that affect anyhow.

What’s your reaction to Reactions? Leave a comment (or emoji) in the comments!