No more gold stars for Twitter. On Tuesday, the social networking platform announced that it was replacing favorites with likes, changing the icon from a star to a red heart.
You can say a lot with a heart. Introducing a new way to show how you feel on Twitter: https://t.co/WKBEmORXNWpic.twitter.com/G4ZGe0rDTP
— Twitter (@twitter) November 3, 2015
“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. You might like a lot of things, but not everything can be your favorite,” Twitter says.
The change draws similarities to Facebook and Instagram, where “Likes” and “Hearts” have been in use for years. The live video-streaming app Periscope – which Twitter owns – has already been using hearts, and now Vine will also make the switch, thereby making hearts the “common language” for its “global community.”
Not everyone is enthusiatic about the new look, though. And where do people go to vent their instant reactions? Twitter.
Thought today was gonna be a good day but now stars are hearts and I hate everything
— Katie Nolan (@katienolan) November 3, 2015
Sounds like twitter finally saw the (•_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■) fault in our stars
— Elise Foley (@elisefoley) November 3, 2015
Twitter seems especially dim about changing the things that people most associate with its brand. ⭐️
— Rainbow Rowell (@rainbowrowell) November 3, 2015
THE YEAR 2043 “Daddy, how did the war start?” “Well, my mutant son, a long time ago Twitter changed fav stars to fav hearts.”
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) November 3, 2015
Dear @Twitter: I do not like changing Favorites to Likes and stars to infantile hearts, and would like a big nasty button to express this
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) November 3, 2015