Twitter made enemies of a lot of its members yesterday, when it introduced its new "likes" feature, which would allow users to mark tweets with hearts. The feature replaces the stars that had previously represented "favourites" on the social networking website. Over the years, favourites had been used in various ways by users, whether as a way of bookmarking beloved tweets, saving an article to read later or simply as an acknowledgement of replies. The company has proudly trumpeted the change since it was introduced, with a gradual roll-out set to occur across the various applications that people use to access their tweets. In the company's eyes, the heart is a "universal symbol" that will help to "make Twitter easier and more rewarding to use" for new users as well as the early adopters who have been rampantly retweeting and happily hashtagging for years. However proud Twitter is about this decision, though, they are some way from winning over their user base. Beyond that, the logic behind the change is deeply flawed and the heart symbol does not seem to gel with the general ethos of Twitter. Time will tell whether the Twitterati will open their hearts to the new feature, but for now it seems like an utter waste of time.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
