This news won’t get many likes! Cops warn Facebook users against Reactions function… and here’s why
Could deciding between the different emotions give Facebook more of an idea about your personal preferences?
THE police are warning Facebook fans not to use the Reactions function.
Earlier this year, the popular social media website launched a new feature, allowing users to respond to posts with a range of different emotions.
From 'angry', to ‘haha’ to ‘love’, Facebook users are able to use the different options to express their opinion about different posts.
Even though the reactions function has taken the internet by storm, the Belgian police have warned that using the feature might compromise internet user’s personal privacy.
On Wednesday, they released which accused Facebook of being a “marketing champion”.
It read: “Facebook never misses an opportunity to improve the collection of information about us and they proved it again last February.
"The question that some of you have asked me was why Facebook limited them to six...
";By limiting the number of icons to six, Facebook is counting on you to express your thoughts more easily so that the algorithms that run in the background are more effective.”
The police authorities believe that reacting with one of the emotions allows Facebook to gather information about users feel about different posts.
They explained: "With your clicks, it will be possible to determine the [types of] content that puts you in a good mood...
“In conclusion, it will be one more reason not to click too fast if you want to protect your privacy.”
This could allow the tech giant to target specific adverts tailored to each individual user.
The Sun has reached out to Facebook for a response, but they are yet to respond.
In February, Facebook Product Manager Sammi Krug explained why the tech giant had decided to introduce the new feature.
She said: “We’ve been listening to people and know that there should be more ways to easily and quickly express how something you see in News Feed makes you feel.
“That’s why today we are launching Reactions, an extension of the Like button, to give you more ways to share your reaction to a post in a quick and easy way.”
Labelling Reactions a “big change”, Krug says the company conducted extensive research - including focus groups and surveys - to determine which reactions people would use most.
Krug added: “We have been testing Reactions in a few markets since last year, and have received positive feedback so far.”