Some Facebook users will be able to express their emotions or what they're doing by using a cute emoticon.
Facebook is readying its new emoticons that are now being tested by some users, according to TechCrunch. The emoticons let users share what they are feeling, reading, listening to or eating. They can also add a custom update to describe something they feel serious about or even predetermined options from Game of Thrones, enjoying ice cream or just the term "happy."
The article suggests that Facebook is creating emoticons because of competition from social network Path and apps such as Line and GetGlue. This could also be a way for Facebook to get more information about its users and to advertisers who want to target specific demographics.
Facebook, however, said that was not its intent. "Itโs just a new way for people to visually represent what theyโre doing and how theyโre feeling through their Facebook posts," Facebook told TechCrunch. "It will only be available to a small set of people. This isnโt integrated into Graph Search. Itโs just a small test to see if people are interested in sharing their actions in a more visual way."
We believe Facebook is seeing if this is attractive to users and if it garners information advertisers would pay to use.