Facebook’s new reactions are not catching on. The new emoji options for reacting to a Facebook post make up less than 3% of all user interactions on Facebook, according to a study by Quintly, a social media analytics firm.
Quintly analyzed 130,000 Facebook posts between April 10 and April 25. It found that the vast majority of all interactions, some 76%, were “likes.” It broke down like this:
Among the new reactions, which were launched at the end of February, the “love” response was the most popular, accounting for just over half of the new options. The “angry” emoji was next, comprising nearly 20% of interactions using the new reactions.
Here’s how usage of the new reactions broke down, according to Quintly:
But Facebook is forging ahead by testing new reactions, popular or not. It’s introducing a “flower” reaction (it looks something like this: 🌼) for Mother’s Day. It made the new reaction available in 82 countries yesterday (May 8), as it’s celebrated in those places on the second Sunday of May. That includes the US. It will be made available on the last Sunday of May, May 29, in 11 countries.
But the ”flower” emoji is only temporarily available: like rare blossoms, it will appear for about 48 hours around Mother’s Day. Facebook Messenger boss David Marcus announced the feature, saying it’s meant for users to “decorate their messages” to their mums.