If you want to show that you like something, a heart means more than a gold star, apparently. At least, that’s what Twitter thinks. The social network has replaced its ‘favorite’ button with a red heart, because people were flummoxed by the idea of liking a pithy tweet by pinning a gold star to it. “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,” reads a company statement. Does Twitter really have no faith in its users? Does it think people are unfamiliar with the concept of rewarding something with a shiny star? Did nobody at Twitter ever go through kindergarten?
Already, the move has some upset, with people tweeting – naturally – their displeasure, mostly at the implication that Heart = Love. “A favorite is many things, but it is most certainly not a like,” complains one user, while another points out that “a platform that has trouble with men harassing women shouldn’t make it easier for them to send us hearts, can be creepy.” Others saw the humor: “This heart thing is unfair to those of us who are dead inside.” I’m upset that the change still allows for poor language. “Favorite” is not a verb, and neither is “heart,” even though “I Heart You” is apparently one way to say “I love you.”
