Facebook Reactions Get a New Look for Star Trek's 50th Anniversary

The original 1960s' Star Trek TV series first aired on September 8, 1966, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary on Thursday. To commemorate the occasion, Facebook has decided to come up with custom reactions as a tribute.

"On September 8, people in the United States and Canada who've expressed interest in Star Trek or science fiction might see a personalized greeting from Facebook to mark the 50th anniversary of the series," Lindsey Shepard, marketing lead at Facebook Messenger, wrote in a blog post.

(Also see: Star Trek Discovery Will Have a Female Lead, Be Set in Original Universe)

"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," she added.

The new custom reactions thus become: "like" stays the same, "love" becomes the traditional Vulcan salute, and "Haha" is represented by a laughing Kirk because he's the captain, says Shepard. Spock's face is used for "Wow", which seems odd considering that would be the last reaction Spock would ever have. Geordi, who wasn't part of the original series but rather appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation, dons the "Sad" reaction, with a Klingon used for "Angry" - since they tend to get angry very easily, says Shepard.

(Also see: Star Trek Beyond Is a Return to Roots in the Series' 50th Year)

Not everyone will see these reactions even in the US and Canada, with the inclusion of "expressed interest" meaning liking pages related to Star Trek. Should you be one of those who come across the special greeting, know that a team at Facebook prepared the USS Enterprise image by hand.