Facebook Celebrates 50th Anniversary of 'Star Trek' With Custom Reactions

Facebook marketing lead Lindsey Shepard recently posted a blog sharing new details of the company's celebration of Star Trek's 50th anniversary, taking place today. After updating the "Like" button to a set of emotional reactions earlier in the year, the social network is temporarily giving each reaction a Star Trek themed makeover to celebrate the franchise's premiere on September 8, 1966.

In order to make this understood by all Star Trek fans, we chose the most iconic and recognizable characters and symbols from the original Star Trek series, as well as the Next Generation. We also wanted to honor the original design and spirit of Reactions, so we needed visual cues that were easy to identify at a glance, like Geordi’s visor. This led us to our final cast: Kirk, Spock, Geordi and a Klingon.

This project has truly been a labor of love. We hope that people find as much joy in using these different celebratory elements as we have in creating them. We may test experiences like this in the future, and will focus on community and moment-driven events like this one.

Live long and prosper.

Shepard said Facebook chose "the most iconic and recognizable characters and symbols from the original Star Trek series" as inspiration for the new reaction buttons, and paired them with what users expect from reactions. The new Star Trek reactions include a sparkly thumbs-up (Like), Vulcan salute (Love), Captain Kirk (Haha), Spock (Wow), Geordi (Sad), and a Klingon (Angry).

The update to reactions also comes with a customized greeting and profile frame that Facebook says only those "who’ve expressed interest in Star Trek or science fiction" might begin to see propagating on their Facebook page. For those lucky fans, the new Star Trek theme will be up in the United States and Canada -- on both desktop and the mobile apps -- "for a limited time."