Clicked on the Twitter tab, and Woah!! What happened there? Why do I see so many hearts out there?
And then noticed. The “Favorite” button has been replaced with the “Heart” one.
Twitter’s official blog says,
We are changing our star icon for favorites to a heart and we’ll be calling them likes.
You might like a lot of things, but not everything can be your favorite. The heart, in contrast, is a universal symbol that resonates across languages, cultures, and time zones. The heart is more expressive, enabling you to convey a range of emotions and easily connect with people. And in our tests, we found that people loved it.
“
The biggest reason might be to make twitter appeal to newcomers as the website is struggling to increase its user base.
“We want to make Twitter easier and more rewarding to use, and we know that at times the star could be confusing, especially to newcomers.”
Sounds Legit. Doesn’t it?
But then change is difficult to adapt. Especially for an audience that had got used to the “Favorite” button.
Here are some of the funny responses to the “outrage” over Twitter and “bring back the favorite”
IT SHOULDN’T MATTER THAT FAVORITES ARE NOW LIKES — THAT TWEET WAS NEVER YOUR FAVORITE ANYWAY
— Sam Sheffer (@samsheffer) November 3, 2015
‘Why did you heart her tweet?’ Twitter dynamics have changed forever.
— Raz (@raztweets) November 3, 2015
Twitter replaces favourite star with valentines day heart symbol. Is this not against Hindutva ideology ?? #CongressMarch4Unity
— Vinod Mehta (@DrunkVinodMehta) November 3, 2015
Having a heart shaped like button on Twitter is as ridiculous as a cowboy wearing a Barbie shirt — The Bad Doctor (@doctoratlarge) November 3, 2015
Twitter is trying to make me love things with this stupid new heart but I don’t have a soul. Please put it back to giving one star reviews.
— Ali Spagnola (@alispagnola) November 3, 2015
What do Twitter software engineers do? Genuinely curious. Open Twitter. Take star icon. Change it into a heart. Ok work done for the day. — Luna (@mentalexotica) November 3, 2015
Twitter sure has a lot of heart
— Evan Edinger (@EvanEdinger) November 3, 2015
Jokes and outrage aside, this new update by Twitter is another push towards gaining more foothold into new markets and user bases. Their focus on helping ease the “migration” of users from comparatively popular and easier social networks like Facebook or even Instagram (Incidentally, also belongs to Facebook).
However, I guess Twitter missed the part that for many of the users, the “favorite” button was sort of a bookmarking tool. For many, it was also sort of a conversation full stop. I guess, Twitter thought favorite= likes!
It will take time for people to get used to this new addition. As a Brand one has to appreciate their effort to try experimenting, as a user It’ll take time to get used to it.
To conclude, (This tweet does it better than I can)
RIP: March 21, 2006 – November 3, 2015 Favorite is only survived by his friend, Retweet. pic.twitter.com/pkLIprnnbN
— Jordan Jackson (@__2js) November 3, 2015
Sreesha
I have mixed feelings – I miss the star, I am enjoying all the star vs heart jokes, *but* I also like seeing it explode like a melon struck with a sharp knife!
mohammadfarooq
It’s just about getting used to it. Someone suggested a bomb for the same effect as well. *Boom* 😛
Alok Singhal
It shouldn’t matter much. Heart would be better to use (and may speak a lot more) in case of conversation between opposite genders 🙂
mohammadfarooq
Well, for now its gelling in. After a few days, people won’t even remember “Favorite”.
JAMSHED AZMI
Very well written. Thanks for sharing.
mohammadfarooq
Thank you for reading 🙂