Just last month we heard news that Mark Zuckerberg was working on expanding the long-reigning ‘like’ button on our Facebook posts.

It has now been officially announced that the social network will be piloting a set of new ‘reaction’ buttons, which will allow users to express their varied emotions to their friends’ posts, as opposed to simply ‘liking’ them.

The traditional ‘like’ button has always seemed inappropriate when it comes to responding to posts about bereavement, break-ups, or hard-hitting news stories, with Zuckerberg saying last month that:

“Not every moment is a good moment, and sometimes you just want a way to express empathy.”

As a result, the new ‘reaction’ buttons will allow users to express a range of emotions including love, sympathy, anger, sadness and laughter.

Users will even be able to respond with a ‘wow’ to their friends’ statuses.

In a Facebook video posted by Chris Cox, Facebook’s chief product officer, it was revealed that there will be six new buttons, which will appear as animated emoticons.

Facebook unveils new buttons that give ‘likes’ an emotive makeover