Do you need a hug during the coronavirus pandemic? Facebook has a new feel good reaction about it

Do you need a reassuring hug during the COVID-19 pandemic? Facebook has a new reaction to feeling good about it.

When even the smallest physical gesture to convey support is not possible, Facebook and its messaging app Messenger are launching new reactions to express concern and compassion, the company exclusively told U.S. Today.

Facebook’s new reaction, a heart-hugging emoji, purports to be a shorthand way to show love and solidarity by commenting on a status update, message, photo or video during the coronavirus crisis, said Fidji Simo, head of the app. from Facebook, in an interview. .

In Messenger, users will be able to switch to a vibrant heart “for when a normal heart doesn’t feel enough,” Simo said.

Reactions on Facebook never captured the full range of human emotions, but were intended as a simple and quick way to communicate positive and supportive feelings or thoughts.

If any situation requires more emotional bandwidth on social media, you are facing a global crisis that has spread disease and death, pain and fear, loneliness and isolation and so many financial difficulties, Simo said.

“This idea of ​​a hug reaction consistently came back as one of the missing emotions and feelings in the reactions. So that’s something that was always on our minds,” he told US TODAY. “And with the crisis that we are going through right now, there is no doubt that people need more compassion, more support.”

A seventh reaction, plus I like it, heart, LOL, wow, sad and angry, was already being explored earlier this year. Then the pandemic changed everyone’s lives, and social media became an even more vital way to connect during social estrangement.

“This current crisis really shows a variety of people struggling with very different things. People who are sick or who are dealing with sick people. People who are losing their jobs. People who are trapped at home educating their children at home. Everyone is right now he has something in their lives that requires support, “said Simo.

Before Facebook redesigned the “like” button, it conducted research for more than a year through focus groups and surveys and analyzing one to three word comments, emojis, and stickers to determine what emotions people most commonly want to express. Then Facebook cut back on the reactions it was considering for those who translated into cultures around the world.

This time, Facebook decided to skip the exhaustive investigation and plans to launch the new reaction on Messenger Friday and on Facebook next week, Simo said.

In the past four years, expressive icons have become a central part of the daily experience of more than 2 billion people on Facebook. And the reactions give the data-driven company an even greater insight into what interests and motivates those users, which in turn helps inform what status updates and announcements they see.

Will this new hug reaction continue? Facebook has added temporary reactions in the past, such as a purple flower for Mother’s Day or a rainbow flag for Pride. Simo says that everything depends on the reaction of the users to the reaction.

“This time it will help us to really understand how people are using it, if they are finding value and if this reaction is really specific to the moment we are going through or if it is more perennial,” he said. “Based on that, we will decide whether to keep it or remove it at the end of this crisis.”

Facebook’s response to the COVID-19 crisis is proving to be proof of how the giant social network recognizes its enormous power and influence after a crushing wave of negativity and privacy and security scandals that damaged the company’s reputation in the last years.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has played a visible role during the coronavirus crisis, participating in public conversations with health experts. The Silicon Valley company created a COVID-19 Information Center on top of the news to offer reliable information from public health organizations to combat a wave of misinformation related to the coronavirus.

The addition of a new reaction also shows Facebook’s continued attempts to transform itself into a kinder and gentler version of its former self as users question its ever-active relationship with the social network.

Discussions about fake news and partisan politics created gaps between friends. Seeing featured reels of other people’s lives made them feel depressed and inadequate. Worse yet, some Facebook users felt that their time on the site was distancing friends and family and making everyone feel more alone.

In response, Zuckerberg pressured Facebook to focus on more intimate sharing, whether in messaging apps or in private groups. The goal: to make it safer to open up with friends or be vulnerable with strangers going through similar experiences and struggles.

“It is always something we are looking to help people with,” Simo said. “There’s a lot of research that shows that when you see people’s struggles and their highlights, it helps you normalize things and makes you feel like you can relate. It’s very important that it’s safe to do so, and this feedback is part of that. ”

(c) 2020 EE. USA today
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