Love > Like - Facebook Reactions Affect Your News Feed

When is a "Like" no longer good enough? When people have more complex feelings to share than a simple thumbs up can express... and it turns out that is pretty much all the time. Facebook, so deeply constructed on the concept of likes, knew that it was time to give us more ways to express ourselves (without having to actually type a comment). By now, we've all adapted to the addition of the five new reactions available for Facebook posts (love, haha, wow, sad, and angry) and use them readily - as much as 800 million times a day. But, as any smart brand does, Facebook found a way to make this feature good for us and a social media marketing opportunity for them.

An article from the popular site Mashable tells us more:

"Over the past year we've found that if people leave a Reaction on a post, it is an even stronger signal that they'd want to see that type of post than if they left a Like on the post," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "So we are updating News Feed to weigh reactions a little more than Likes when taking into account how relevant the story is to each person."

In other words: While "liking" a post signals to Facebook that its something you're interested in and want to see more of, responding with any other sentiment — even a "negative" one like angry — sends an even stronger signal.

Facebook notes that currently all reactions are weighted the same, so News Feed's algorithms won't be influenced based on whether you react with "love" or "sad" or "angry."

While it's not surprising that Facebook would adjust News Feed to account for reactions — after all, responding with a reaction takes an extra step than just tapping "like" — it's interesting that all reactions are treated equally. At least for now. Facebook says that "love" is far and away the most popular of all reactions, accounting for more than half of all reactions shared on the service.

So while "love" remains the favorite, you will be shown more articles that anger you in equal amounts to those you laugh or cry at. Is that good marketing? Absolutely. The best marketing tactics will compel the viewer to action. When a reader just likes your content, you're in the brand "friend zone". They may have positive feelings, but lack passion about your brand. If there's strength in the emotion you create, whether it's love or hate, you get passion. And passion will compel your viewers/readers to remember you.

Are you looking to stir up the fires of passion in your potential customers? Contact the content creators at Front Burner Marketing. We are inbound and social media marketing experts and can help you get the reaction you want from your visitors.