Updated on 9th October

The wait is finally over!

When news spread last month that facebook was set to implement a 'Dislike' button, the online world was sent into a tailspin. Finally, a way to battle back against the endless stream of baby photos and ambiguous status' declaring: 'Some people nd to learn how 2 mind there own business!'

Facebook inventor Mark Zuckerburg was adamant that a genuine dislike button would not be released, due to the risk it posed of online bullying and abuse. So instead, the Silicon Valley company has revealed a series of six 'Reactions', which will sit alongside the like button.

The new reactions will initially be released in Ireland and Spain for testing purposes. So you've still got a bit of a wait before you drop can an 'Angry' face on that photo of someone's lunch.

How many times have you seen a post on Facebook that has made you question what the appropriate response is? As an internet-enabled Shakespeare would have said: 'To like, or not to like?'.

Thankfully, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg has (finally) heard our awkward cries. In a question-answer session on Tuesday, he said: ‘People have asked about the ‘dislike’ button for many years, and probably hundreds of people have asked about this, and today is a special day because today is the day that I actually get to say we are working on it, and are very close to shipping a test of it.’

Huzzah!

However, it’s not as simple as a like or a dislike, as Zuckerberg doesn’t want Facebook to become a ‘forum where people are voting up or down on people’s posts’. Fair enough, writing a Facebook status is hard enough, without giving people the power to essentially grade our posts.

Instead, the new feature will allow people to ‘express empathy’. OK, so we're now a bit confused. So it's not a 'dislike' button afterall? More like a virtual pat on the back? So many questions, but we're sure it will be more succesful than the now obsolete 'Poke' function. Remember that? Lol.