Want a thumb’s down reaction on Facebook? It looks like you are going to get it soon…sort of. Facebook just announced that they are updating their Messenger app, bringing two new features – message reactions and mentions. Just like what TechCrunch reported earlier this month, message reactions lets you react to individual messages on Messengers, while mentions allow you to directly notify someone when they’ve been mentioned in a conversation.
Message reactions allow users to quickly react to an individual message. Love the pet photo shared by your friend? Just react with a heart. Planning a Friday night movie? Just react with a yes or no reaction to indicate your preference. Facebook is bringing all the reactions that are available on its News Feed, but with an additional reaction that we’ve all been waiting for – the thumbs down reaction.
Just like iMessage, simply tap and hold any message. After that, just select the reaction you want – love, smile, wow, sad, angry, yes and no. Reactions are shown on the lower corner of the message, along with the number indicating on how many people reacted to the message. Tapping on the emojis will show you who reacted in which way. You can react to any messages be it text, stickers, videos, GIFs and even other emoji.
Next up, chatting in a group has just gotten easier on Facebook Messenger. With mentions, just type the “@” symbol or start typing the first few letters of the name, and select from the list. The name will be highlighted for everyone to see, so if you’re in a big group chat, you can directly message someone. The person mentioned will receive a “new kind of notification” that lets them know they were called out specifically.
Just like mentions on other chat platforms including WhatsApp and Telegram, when you mention someone’s name, everyone will be able to see it. Notifications will work just like before, but only the specified person on a group conversation will get a notification that they have been mention. Notifications can be turned off at anytime.
Message reactions and mentions on Facebook Messenger will be rolled out starting today, and will be available globally in the “coming days”. It will be available for Work Chat in Workplace as well.
(Source: Facebook)
