Facebook To Expand Beyond Its 'Like' Button 'Pretty Soon', Adds Live Video Feature
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — It won't be long before Facebook's 1.6 billion users have more ways to quickly express their feelings on the world's largest social network.
After four months of testing outside the U.S., Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that "pretty soon" six new emotions will be added to the social network throughout the world.
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Zuckerberg didn't give a more concrete timetable while discussing the new feature with analysts in a conference call Wednesday following Facebook's latest quarterly earnings report.
The additional options will expand Facebook beyond the renowned thumbs-up symbol that people click on to show they like a comment, photo or video posted on the social network.
The new reactions will include symbols for "angry," ''sad," ''wow," ''haha," ''yay" and "love."
"We want people to be able to share all of the things that are meaningful to them, not just the things that are happy and that people are going to like when they see it," Zuckerberg said Wednesday.
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Facebook is hoping the additional choices will encourage people to share their thoughts more frequently and hang out on the social network for even longer periods than they already do.
Facebook has been testing the different reactions in Chile, the Philippines, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Japan and Colombia.
Zuckerberg said Facebook's engineers still need to make a few more "tweaks" before the new options are offered in other parts of the world.
If the new reactions do not quite express how much you love Philadelphia, Visit Philadelphia unveiled the Philadelphia Emoji Keyboard earlier this month. The custom emoji keyboard app filled with more than 60 iconic emojis, GIF's and videos — including a winking Liberty Bell, flashing Yo! graphic, and a bird's eye view of the William Penn Statue atop City Hall, is now available for download.
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The emojis work in text, email and apps that support the pasting of images like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Kik. The specialty keyboard does not work on Twitter and Instagram.
Also new on Facebook, users in the U.S. now have the ability to share live video via iPhone. When you end your broadcast, Facebook says it will be saved on your Timeline like any other video, which can then be deleted or kept for friends to watch later.
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