Agency Experts Weigh in On Facebook Reaction

We asked some of our employees what they thought of Facebook Reactions and how it will affect the industry.

Did they like or love, say haha or wow, or feel sad or angry?

Taylor Wiegert, Senior Planner, UX Strategy

• This update is a representation of people wanting a more nuanced way of expressing themselves. The “Like” button wasn’t doing that. So Facebook found a good balance between giving people a little bit more of a unique way to express their views for the complex issues being shared online.
• The “Like” button became sort of passé, now users have something meaningful to react with.
• More nuanced for users = more data for marketers.
• From a marketing/branding perspective, this is a good way for brands to evaluate from a deeper level how their content is being received by their audience. In the past, a Like could tell you a little, a comment could tell you a lot, and now reactions will be able to tell you something in-between.

Brad Higdon, Group Account Director

• More options = more data.
• For individuals, providing a range is helpful in reacting more expressively, especially when you have occasions of individuals who post about something unpleasant or even something tragic (like someone who passed away) and it isn’t intuitive to “Like” the post, even though you want to show support…so ultimately this is a good move.
• As it relates to brands, I think it will help draw out the character and further shape the personalities of the brands we support. GEICO has always had a humorous brand personality, so I hope we get a lot of “ha-has” for the content we post. It may also create a new dimension for brands in the sense that GEICO could post a picture of something out in the world that we think is funny, and by having consumers react with “ha-ha” reinforces our brand character. That we’re likable and funny. The more data we have, the more it helps us refine our posts.

Bob Meagher, Associate Creative Director

• One of the most important updates is the sad emoji. Now when someone posts that their Dad just passed away, people don’t have to give the thumbs up. My guess is that the angry emoji will get a lot of use, both for personal posts and advertisers.

David Vogeleer, Associate Creative Director/Technology

• I think how emoji have become part of our common vernacular is interesting. For the longest time, it was impossible to provide any emotional context to statements written in shorthand, so adding an “angry face” to a post really gives the reader some understanding of where the writer is coming from.
• Plus, throwing a poop emoji onto anything is just hilarious.