You may have heard over the past few years rumors about a “dislike” option on Facebook. Due to many years of users petitioning for the Facebook dislike button, Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, recently came out to say that users’ wishes will be granted. However, not in the way that the social media sphere may have intended.
A fear amongst big brands has been the negative atmosphere a Facebook’s dislike button could have created for social media. Luckily for many Brands and PR strategists, Zuckerberg and his team have come up with an alternative solution. Facebook is in the process of testing out six new emojis that will provide users a wider selection of emotions to express on their feed. The new emojis include a heart and five smileys including: “haha”, “yay”, “wow”, “sad” and “angry.” Zuckerberg wants to avoid the possibility of mass pessimism, caused by a dislike button on the Facebook community, and is reassuring the public that a “downvote” is not his intention. “That doesn’t seem like the kind of community that we want to create: You don’t want to go through the process of sharing some moment that was important to you in your day and have someone ‘downvote’ it,”says Zuckerberg. Instead, the Facebook founder has announced that the new features allow user to express empathy. After all, not all posts are happy posts.
Although this is not the dislike button that many may have been expecting, this new feature does lead to some changes for brands that utilize Facebook for running campaigns. Rather than the increase in negative feedback that was feared from a dislike button, the new emojis could force brands to reconsider the structure of their social media campaigns.
Campaign Monitoring: The numbers will speak for themselves
In the past, Facebook communication feedback included three primary areas: likes, comments and shares. However, with the introduction of the new emojis, brands now have the ability to monitor successful or unsuccessful campaigns based on a more detailed reaction of the public.
Increased Engagement: More users will be likely to express their opinion
For many Facebook users, writing a comment is simply too much work. Unless it is a close friend or family member people are not always inclined to write a negative comment when they may disagree with a post. The new emojis cater to the greater population and give them the opportunity to provide feedback without making the effort to write a comment. What does this mean for brands? This means a new way of sentimental analysis: measuring the feelings of the public based on a scale of emotions rather than a simple “like.”
Response time: More feedback means less response time
As it has always been in the field of PR, responding with quality and speed are of utmost importance. Now with the new emojis added to the picture, brands will have to be prepared in advance for reactions from every angle; the “happy”, the “sad”, and the “wow.”
According to Zuckerberg, the early tests will be taking place in Spain and Ireland before the new feature reaches anywhere else. However, for all the brands using Facebook for building client relations, now is the time to restructure your strategic plans for the future.
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