![]() ![]() It looks like jazz hands, or being excited, or two gummi bears squished together. Something beyond Love.” The design team figured a hug would be the best way to convey this, but the attempts at a hug emoji were always “a spectacular failure. In the company blog post, “ Can I Get a Hug? The Story of Facebook’s Care Reaction,” product manager Misbah Uraizee explains that, even before the pandemic, they thought, “Love already works really well,” but needed to “find a reaction that can work for use cases where it’s not purely about love, like when someone wants to show an emotion like sympathy, support, or care. ![]() Facebook tech communications manager Alexandru Voica first tweeted out the image alongside a purple pulsating heart (to be unveiled on Facebook Messenger) as “a way for people to share their support for one another during this unprecedented time.” Whether Care stemmed from the embattled company’s altruism or opportunism, the very act of hugging during the pandemic-so hard to conceptualize in the digital and so necessary in the physical-was the thing people needed and yet were unable to do.įacebook had been planning a seventh reaction for a few years, following the success of the 2015 suite. Now, in the face of rising pandemic numbers, Facebook was-perhaps belatedly-giving users the option to express empathy. This was the first new reaction since 2015, when Like was joined by Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry. In April 2020, Facebook introduced a new “Care” reaction to its platform in the form of a smile emoji hugging a heart. But what does it mean to care in a digital space and in a time of mourning? Last year, Facebook launched a new Care reaction amid the COVID-19 pandemic. ![]()
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