Facebook Messenger is basically Slack now
Facebook Messenger just got two new features that might look a little familiar. And no, it's not because Snapchat had them first.
Instead, the company is taking two features straight out of Slack's playbook with the addition emoji-laden reactions and mentions.
Reactions, which were first spotted in a "small test" earlier in the month, allow you to respond to individual messages within a thread with seven different emoji. Messenger's reactions differ slightly from those seen elsewhere on Facebook.
Included in that group is a "thumbs down" emoji, which is probably the closest we'll ever get to an actual "dislike" button on Facebook. (The social network says the thumbs down represents a "no" reaction.)
Adding a reaction inside a conversation in Messenger works just like reactions in News Feed: hold down on a message to select a response. If you're in a group chat and there are multiple reactions on a single message, they will all appear.
Adding a reaction to a message will also trigger a notification to the person who sent the original message, so get ready for a lot more push notifications if you're using reactions in a group thread with a lot of participants.
Speaking of new push notifications, Facebook is also adding Slack-like @-mentions, so you can "call out" specific people in a chat. When you use mentions in Messenger, the person who you mentioned will get a different type of push notification letting them know (thankfully, Facebook is letting you disable these.)
Like Slack, all you have to do to mention someone is begin a reply with @ and then add their name. Others in the conversation will also be able to see the mention and receive notifications as they normally would in a chat.
In addition to Messenger, Facebook is also bringing the new features to its own Slack competitor, Work Chat, the messaging tool inside Work Place, the social network's business communication tool.
Both mentions and reactions are launching now, with a full rollout expected to be finished in the next couple days, the company says.
Topics Facebook
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
