Twitter is killing off 'favorites' and instead wants you to 'like' tweets with hearts
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
Previously, Twitter let users show they enjoyed a tweet by selecting a star icon. But that's all changing today. Now, you show you liked a tweet by tapping a heart.
Twitter has been testing out this feature for months. Back in June some users of Twitter's Android and iOS apps spotted that it had changed the star icon to a heart. Twitter confirmed at the time that it was only running an experiment.
NEW TWITTER ICONS. MIXED FEELINGS. pic.twitter.com/UgpFBNETxA
- Daniel Singer (@danielsing3r) July 28, 2015
But now it's official: Favorites are now likes, and stars are now hearts, according to an emailed press release. The change is going to be rolled out in the Twitter app, on the Twitter website, and also on TweetDeck.
In the press release, Twitter says a heart is a "universal symbol that resonates across languages, cultures, and time zones." Twitter says a heart is "more expressive" than a favorite, as the graphic below, which shows what the hearts will look like, attempts to indicate:
Twitter is also going to update the Vine app to unify the way likes look. Right now when you like a Vine video you hit a smiley face. But Twitter says that's going to change to a heart, just like the Twitter app. That's going to bring Twitter and Vine in line with video-streaming app Periscope, which uses hearts to show how much people like different streams.
- A centenarian who starts her day with gentle exercise and loves walks shares 5 longevity tips, including staying single
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- FSSAI in process of collecting pan-India samples of Nestle's Cerelac baby cereals: CEO
- India's e-commerce market set to skyrocket as the country's digital economy surges to USD 1 Trillion by 2030
- Top 5 places to visit near Rishikesh
- Indian economy remains in bright spot: Ministry of Finance
- A surprise visit: Tesla CEO Elon Musk heads to China after deferring India visit
- Unemployment among Indian youth is high, but it is transient: RBI MPC member