Facebook chucks its 'f' logo in 'Like' button

Facebook has taken the first step to making its social plugin buttons flatter and more distinct. Facebook's 'like' button, the familiar blue icon that is found on millions of pages around the web along with Facebook’s share icon, is getting a makeover. The company is introducing a redesigned version of the icon with just thumbs-up, instead of Facebook's company logo.

"Our hypothesis was that more people would recognize the thumbs-up icon on the like button, so we conducted qualitative and quantitative tests to measure them side by side, the results revealed a 6 percent increase in likes, so we are switching the like button from the Facebook 'f' logo to the thumbs-up icon," Facebook said in a blog post. Previously, the buttons for liking and sharing both used Facebook's corporate logo.

For those who still get confused between the like and share button, the latter creates a new Facebook post linking to the page where you clicked the button and lets you add a personal message before you post it. Clicking the like button shares the post on Facebook without giving you a chance to add a message.

The company will also unveil new icons for following, recommending, and saving articles to read later. Facebook will also add buttons for like, share, and comment to its fast-loading Instant Articles format in the next couple weeks.