Have you ever felt awkward wondering if you should “like” a Facebook post by a friend who’s talking about grief, loss, or sadness?
Problem solved!
As of today, instead of clarifying that “like” by spending a few minutes writing a heartfelt follow-up comment to show your concern, you can just use a Facebook “Reaction,” which is basically an emoji extension of the “like” button.
I’m kidding, of course. You should still write the empathetic comment! I mean, if you can spend an average of 48 minutes a day taking selfies (yes, I’ve seen that stat online, so it must be true), then you can still take a moment to write thoughtful comments, even with the new emoji assist.
How do Facebook “Reactions” work?
Simple.
You just hover over the “like” button and it gives you a few more options: Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry.
(So much for combining emotions like at the end of Inside Out.)
How will fans of your music use Facebook Reactions?
Maybe they’ll respond as “angry” when you share a bad review from a mean critic. Maybe they’ll respond as “wow” when you drop an ultra-secret single, or “sad” when your next tour skips over their town.
The options are nearly endless, or — ya know — limited to six very narrow…
Oh let’s just hope that people still leave comments for now.
Speaking of, what do you think of this new Facebook feature? Leave a comment!
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Chris Robley is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and award-winning poet from Maine.
His Beatlesque indie-pop and milltown Americana songs have been praised by The Associated Press, No Depression, KCRW, The LA Times, Boston Globe, NPR, American Songwriter, and others.
His poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, and more.
Robley has received a Maine Literary Award in Poetry, Boulevard’s Emerging Writers Prize for Poetry, and in 2016 was selected by former US-poet laureate Robert Pinsky as a finalist for the Dorset Prize.