Twitter Made the Wrong Change with the “Like” Button

By Juan Avila

Twitter replaced its iconic star-shaped favorite button with a heart-shaped “like” button on Nov. 3.

While the change was made with user’s interests in mind, tweets flooded the site dismissing the new heart and calling it unnecessary.

The favorite button was tied to Twitter as much as its famous bird icon. Changing to a generic heart makes the platform seem no different than any other social media website.

A yellow star provided a way to show approval of a tweet, save something to read later or end a conversation.

The red heart conveys a more serious tone and emotion. The whole point of Twitter is brevity and simplicity.

Polls from news outlets like the Chicago Tribune on Twitter, demonstrate the depth of reaction to the new like button, as 89 percent of about 1,000 users prefer the favorite button.

Not to mention that the contrast between the new red like button and green retweet button can cause confusion for people who are colorblind, according to an article on Tech Insider.

If a helpful change was to be made to Twitter, then users should have gotten the ability to edit their tweets, not a heart-shaped like button.