Just over two weeks ago, we brought you the news that Facebook was testing reactions on Messenger. Well, today reactions are rolling out on Messenger for one on one conversations, as well as group chats. A new mentions feature for group chats is rolling out with them.
The new features were announced in a fb.newsroom post this week, but also on Facebook by David Marcus, head of messenger at the company, who said,
[quote]I’m excited to announce that we’re making group conversations even better with the addition of Message Reactions that will enable you to react quickly, or give your opinion on a question much faster, as well as Mentions that will allow you to call out someone specific in a conversation to get their attention[/quote]
We welcome the news, as we really think these are two great features that will improve group conversations and make them more fun and useful.
Message Reactions
The first of the two, Message Reactions give you the ability to react to specific messages with emotion. You can show acknowledgement, or express how you feel “in a lightweight away.” As Drew Moxon, Product Manager at Messenger explains,
[quote]if someone messages a photo of their cute pet, you could respond with the love reaction. Or, if someone is trying to coordinate dinner plans, you could easily respond with a yes or no reaction to indicate your preferences.[/quote]
All you have to do to add a reaction, is to tap and hold a message and tap again to select your reaction – love, smile, wow, sad, angry, yes, and no. Hang on… did Facebook just give us a “dislike button?” It seems so.
Your reaction will appear in the lower corner of the message you reacted to. With many people reacting, you will be able to see a reaction and a number next to it. Just like on Facebook, if you tap on a reaction, you can see who reacted that way.
Also, as soon as someone reacts, you get to see a small animation while looking at the conversation. Finally, Messenger will send you a notification if you have the app closed or minimised. Messenger Reactions will work in the same in one on one conversations and group conversations, and any type of message can be reacted to. Try it on stickers, text, videos, GIFs, and other emoji.
Messenger Mentions
The second feature announced, is Mentions – “a way to directly notify someone when they’ve been mentioned in a conversation.” Great for group conversations, to direct a comment at someone, all you have to do is type the “@” symbol before someone’s name or nickname and it will pop into place.
You can do the same simply by starting to type the first letters of their name or nickname and pick the right person from the list. The name will end up highlighted for all participants in the group conversation!
When someone is mentioned, they will get a “new kind of notification that lets them know they were called out specifically.” This makes it super-easy to get straight back into the conversation to respond.
Everyone in the conversation will get to see the mention and will get a notification that someone said something, but only the person mentioned will actually get the new “mention notification.” Naturally, you will be able to turn all notifications on or off.
Both new features will be available on Messenger, but they will also make their way to Work Chat on Workplace. They should be available to all within the next few weeks.
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