Source: LEON NEAL / Getty Saying that Twitter has some problems would be the understatement of the century. The platform has been under fire for a while, but even more so within the last 2 years due to the state of our country and y’all’s little president instilling confidence in people who might otherwise be more closeted with their hatred. But with so many people running around on the platform doing both hateful and harmful things, there are a lot of areas where Twitter could improve–but apparently, their CEO Jack Dorsey has some other plans on his agenda that he thinks are more important. At a recent Twitter event , Dorsey told a room full of employees and journalists that Twitter would be removing the heart-shaped Like button from the platform sometime “soon”. Twitter Communications confirmed a Like button rework was being considered as part of an ongoing effort to clean up the platform — with the aim of incentivizing “healthier conversations”. The tweet reads as follows: “As we’ve been saying for a while, we are rethinking everything about the service to ensure we are incentivizing healthy conversation, that includes the like button. We are in the early stages of the work and have no plans to share right now.” As we've been saying for a while, we are rethinking everything about the service to ensure we are incentivizing healthy conversation, that includes the like button. We are in the early stages of the work and have no plans to share right now. https://t.co/k5uPe5j4CW — Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) October 29, 2018 Here’s a few reactions to that tweet, and the idea of removing the like button in general Twitter user @AManNamedNobody said, “Most people aren’t on here to debate anything….you’re thinking you’ll encourage healthy conversation by forcing people to talk instead of clicking LIKE. But not all of us want a conversation. A LIKE speaks volumes. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’” Most people aren't on here to debate anything. I know what you're thinking, you're thinking you'll encourage healthy conversation by forcing people to talk instead of clicking LIKE. But not all of us want a conversation. A LIKE speaks volumes. “If it ain't broke, don't fix it.” — Johnny Nobody (@AManNamedNobody) October 30, 2018 Another user added, “If the like button is removed a useful tool for measuring interest in the content I provide…will be gone. @ twitter taking this step would be a bad move & folks will quit in frustration if it happens. Please listen to users and don’t do this.” If the like button is removed a useful tool for measuring interest in the content I provide to 48,000 followers on this platform will be gone. @twitter taking this step would be a bad move & folks will quit in frustration if it happens. Please listen to users and don't do this. — MR Humble (@Todd_Scheve) October 29, 2018 The like button actually started as a star-shaped ‘favorite’, or ‘fav’ button when the platform began. But in 2015, Twitter changed the Favorite button to a Like because, “You might like a lot of things, but not everything can be your favorite”. This was apparently an effort to help grow the platform, with the heart being a more, “universal symbol that resonates across languages, cultures, and time zones.” But according to Andrew Campbell, a researcher in the fields of e-mental health and cyberpsychology from the University of Sydney, Twitter’s biggest weakness has always been the heart saying, “it’s a strong emotion to say you love something.” This tweet from Josh Butler very well sums up a lot of people’s thoughts on Twitter and Jack’s need to constantly roll out and change things that aren’t really the problem: Users: hey can you get rid of the Nazis please Twitter: ok sure, we've changed the stars to hearts for likes Users: no no, zero Nazis please Twitter: yep we're getting rid of Vine Users: nah hey, what about the Nazis Twitter: ok ok fine, no more likes https://t.co/HKE0BrCiVU — Josh Butler (@JoshButler) October 29, 2018 What do you guys think about Twitter’s decision? Are you a lover of the like button, or can you do without it?
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Twitter Might Be Removing Their Like Button, Which Literally NOBODY Asked For
