Facebook launches new reaction buttons – including like, love, wow, sad, and angry

After years of waiting, Facebook users are about to get what they’ve long been asking for: an expansion of the ‘like’ button.

The simple thumbs-up option, which has been a staple of the social media site for years, has been a source of frustration for some users, with complaints that it’s too simplistic a response to the varied nature of posts that people share.

Now there are six reactions that users can choose from when interacting with posts, and they’re beginning to roll out across the social network.

As well as ‘like’, users can now click ‘love’, ‘haha’, ‘wow’, ‘sad’, and ‘angry’, with corresponding animations for each response.

The reactions will be available on desktop and on mobile – users with access to them can hold down on the ‘like’ button to reveal a menu of the six options on mobile, while hovering over ‘like’ brings up the menu on desktop.