Facebook has 6 main reactions: The Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry. During holidays, celebrations and other festive occasions Facebook will, at times, release new temporary reactions like on Mother’s Day when they added the temporary Thank You reaction or on Halloween when they, for a short period, changed the reactions to Candy Heart, Witch, Ghost, Frankenstein and Jack-o’-lantern. So with Pride month upon us, Facebook has released a new rainbow Pride reaction. But unlike the Mother’s Day and Halloween reactions this one isn’t automatically available. You have to opt-in to use this temporary reaction which you do by liking the LGBTQ page on Facebook. Click here to go to it. Once you have liked the page you will be able to use the reaction except that won’t be the case for some people.

It’s important to note that not everyone will be able to use the reaction which has generated some controversy. Facebook users in countries like Egypt, Malaysia and Singapore and other countries with anti-LGBTQ policies will not be able to use the rainbow reaction.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Is Facebook being respectful of other cultures laws and customs or should they take a stand against repressive regimes and make the reaction available to all users?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Trites is a Social Media Consultant and Owner of Knockout Social Media