Facebook Reactions arrived today with great fanfare. Facebook’s just given their “like” system a pretty dramatic overhaul and added five additional options, all of which come with their own animated emoticons.
If you want to learn about the work behind the change, Wired has posted a good (and detailed) look at the research and thinking behind it here. The real reason for the change is simple:
Today’s users increasingly interact with Facebook and other sites through mobile devices as desktop usage continues to decline. Users with shorter attention spans need more options to engage with content on smaller screens without having to actually type.
The result is the six emoticons you see above, representing like, love, haha(laugh), angry, wow and sad.
Though it might seem all ado about nothing on the surface, here at JVI Mobile we see great potential in the new Facebook Reactions options. Properly used, it should be a great tool to gauge audience response to about every move you or your industry make. Some potential first impression avenues:
- Product feedback or better still new product pre-launch research. Learn ahead of time if your latest new idea will wow your customers!
- Facebook Reactions will give you more flexibility in gauging responses to industry changes and your community involvement and charitable involvement.
- Great insight on how well your posts connect with your audience overall. If most of your posts get tepid or negative reactions, you’ve got changes to make!
- Of course, look at all of the same for your competitors. If your biggest competitor just increased prices, you’ll easily be able to get a gauge for their customer’s push-back. Just remember that your competition will see the same information on you.
We’re quickly building out our suite of tools to incorporate Facebook Reactions into all of our social media programs to help deliver even better business intelligence to our clients.
At JVI Mobile, we are passionate about creating and growing awesome social relationships. Tell us how we can help!