Facebook's new reactions available worldwide

Facebook users around the globe can now be more expressive. The social network rolled out "Reactions" - an extension of the "Like" button - worldwide, to allow users to express emotions such as sadness, anger and love.

In a video accompanying a blog post, the five new buttons appear as animated emoticons that pop up when the "Like" button is held down on mobile devices. The buttons appear on desktops when users hover over the "Like" button.

Facebook launched a pilot of "Reactions" - which allowed users to select from seven emotions including "Angry", "Sad", "Wow" and "Like" - in Ireland and Spain in October. The company will also use "Reactions" to track user behavior and for ad delivery.

"We will initially use any Reaction similar to a Like to infer that you want to see more of that type of content," Facebook said in separate blog post. Facebook said that over time it hoped to learn how different "Reactions" should be weighted differently by the Facebook News Feed to customize it for individual users.

Facebook said "Reactions" would have the same impact on ad delivery as "likes". The feature received mixed reviews from users on social networking sites. Many complained that they could not see the new emoticons, while some were unhappy that Facebook did not launch a "dislike" button.