Facebook now lets you 'Like' 360-degree videos in virtual reality

Merging social networks with virtual reality, one emoji at a time

Facebook now lets you 'Like' 360-degree videos in virtual reality

Today, Facebook-owned Oculus announced the launch of 360-degree video reactions for the Gear VR headset. So now, when watching Facebook videos using Samsung's virtual reality goggles, you'll be able to choose between the social network's standard series of reactions, including the like or one of the five new emoji reactions. When viewing 360-degree videos, you'll also be able to see others' reactions float by on the screen as well.

The company originally touted the feature back in March when it first began letting Gear VR users sign into their Facebook accounts on the VR headset to get a personalized feed of stories. Oculus says the new emoji reactions should be available for 360-degree photos, which the company began supporting earlier this month, in the coming weeks as well.

Facebook is exploring how to make VR more social

Video reactions are just the latest in a continued effort to bring social features to VR. We're still a ways off from a full-blown Facebook VR app that could reasonably resemble the Metaverse. But Facebook and its Oculus subsidiary have started bringing some of the hallmark features of the world's most popular social network to the realm of VR. Back in February, Facebook announced the formation of a social VR team dedicated to researching "how people can connect and share using today's VR technology," though its early focus appears to center on social game design.