TechTech

These People Are Really Upset Twitter Lost ‘Favs’

Will FedermanBy Will Federman
Twitter Prices At $23-25 Per Share Ahead Of IPO
FILE PHOTO: A user checks a Twitter feed on a smartphone in this arranged photograph taken in London, U.K., on Friday, Oct. 4, 2013. Twitter Inc. boosted its initial public offering (IPO) price to $23 to $25 a share ahead of the microblogging service's planned trading debut at the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 7. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photograph by Chris Ratcliffe — Bloomberg via Getty Images

Twitter dropped a bomb on users earlier today, when the microblogging service ditched its iconic star-shaped ‘favorite’ button for a heart-shaped ‘like’ button—sending the Internet spiraling into total chaos (for a few hours).

The company said in a blog post that the shift away from ‘favorites’ to ‘likes’ was designed to promote “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 button was a jarring change for the social media platform, which has made a spate of recent moves to attract new users amid investor concerns over growth. But more importantly, the new button failed to win the hearts of journalists, celebrities and brands—all of whom took to Twitter to post their thoughts:

https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/661578296161800192

https://twitter.com/jeffbercovici/status/661571043123834881

https://twitter.com/arthur_affect/status/661622121030782976

Wall Street was also not feeling the love, sending Twitter’s share price down slightly from the previous close.