Podcast - will emojis replace the like?

VENICE BEACH, Calif. - Will the emoji take over for the like button on Facebook?

The social network is testing a new series of emojis to express emotions, like sadness and happiness, to offer folks another way of chiming in, especially during sad times like deaths or other setbacks.

We dived into how Facebook Reactions, currently testing in Spain and Ireland, will play, on this week’s #talkingtechLIVE podcast.

We also discussed:

--Apple’s surprise announcement Thursday that Starbucks will start accepting Apple Pay soon. After a year in which Apple met critical success--but not mass market adoption, for buying stuff with an iPhone, will the Starbucks move make the big difference?

--Twitter’s new Moments tab, to put trending stories front and center, in a bid to see more people using the micro-blogging network. We also found out what it’s like to be in the middle of a Twitter feud with one of Hollywood’s top actors, Seth Rogan.

Former NBC programmer Garth Ancier describes a chance meeting with the actor, who still smarts over his cancellation of “Freaks and Geeks,” 15 years ago, and took to Twitter to re-express his outrage.

Our other guests:

--Ernie Garcia, a co-founder of Carvana, a website for buying and selling cars online.

--Acclaimed photographer Michael Grecco. who will be speaking about lighting at the upcoming ProPhoto Expo, in New York City, and has a new product, Prostorage.com, for archiving hard drives in foam.

-- Farbod Shoraka, a co-founder of BloomNation, a new website for delivering handcrafted flowers from local florists.

--Emilia Kubo Kirschenbaum, a Technical Product Manager who represented the voice of millennials on this week’s show.

#talkingtechLIVE airs on TuneIn Thursdays at 8 p.m. PT and is archived on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher and TuneIn.