Twitter: Power To The Heart
We love everything. Or at least, that’s what social networks want us to do. Facebook is testing new animated emojis, or as they call them, Reactions, which include none other than a Heart. Rather than the plain old (but beloved and familiar) Like, you can express how you feel about a post. This is, undoubtedly, a compromise for those persistent folks who’d love to see a Dislike button: You have the option to select an Angry smiley. Look out!
Similarly, Twitter recently made a seemingly small but noteworthy change: Without warning, they changed Favorites to Likes, and Stars to Hearts.
I’ll be honest; I’m not sure how I feel about this. I joined Twitter in 2009, and I’ve always loved those little gold stars. Oh, were they not gold? Was it just my profile settings that made them gold? I can’t even remember, but I digress. Gold or not, they were stars, which implies they were a rating system of sorts. In the social world, they were fairly unique to the platform. Now, it just feels like Twitter is a follower (uhh, no pun intended).
By changing that star to a heart, are we supposed to feel more love and affection from our followers and fans? Is it an effort to make Twitter feel less competitive and more warm and fuzzy and approachable? From my perspective, Twitter has always been a stream of news, quick tips, witty one-offs and boosts of positivity. It’s never been a place to have long conversations (or even deep connections), but that’s what I loved. When you tweet something, you have about 15 seconds to make an impact with it, and then it’s lost to the void. Seriously: In social media, you can’t assume you have 15 minutes. Social media is life on steroids, and it moves fast(er).
I’ve always liked Twitter’s strategy, but not everyone does. Clearly, something had to give, so they made this change. Now, when I see someone Heart something I shared, I feel a sense of ‘aww, thanks’ as opposed to ‘yes, score’! Maybe that was the intention, and it’s a shift I’ll have to get used to. I won’t completely disown Twitter because they’re evolving. That just wouldn’t be fair.
Twitter is the place to connect with any and everybody, regardless of status, location, etc. I’ve always loved the platform for that very reason. You can freely contact/tweet just about anyone, and that’s awesome. And sometimes, once in a great while, someone you never expect to respond actually does, and for a brief moment (15 seconds, at least), you think to yourself ‘hey, that’s pretty cool’.
Since Twitter’s update, apparently, engagement has risen and people are ‘Hearting’ more things more often. So maybe there is something appealing about the Heart?
Hearts, Likes, Stars… whatever. Cute little symbols and pictures make us happy, temporarily, but in the end, they’re pretty irrelevant. The lasting impressions will always be meaningful exchanges and those gems you connect with out of the blue.
Similarly, Twitter recently made a seemingly small but noteworthy change: Without warning, they changed Favorites to Likes, and Stars to Hearts.
I’ll be honest; I’m not sure how I feel about this. I joined Twitter in 2009, and I’ve always loved those little gold stars. Oh, were they not gold? Was it just my profile settings that made them gold? I can’t even remember, but I digress. Gold or not, they were stars, which implies they were a rating system of sorts. In the social world, they were fairly unique to the platform. Now, it just feels like Twitter is a follower (uhh, no pun intended).
By changing that star to a heart, are we supposed to feel more love and affection from our followers and fans? Is it an effort to make Twitter feel less competitive and more warm and fuzzy and approachable? From my perspective, Twitter has always been a stream of news, quick tips, witty one-offs and boosts of positivity. It’s never been a place to have long conversations (or even deep connections), but that’s what I loved. When you tweet something, you have about 15 seconds to make an impact with it, and then it’s lost to the void. Seriously: In social media, you can’t assume you have 15 minutes. Social media is life on steroids, and it moves fast(er).
I’ve always liked Twitter’s strategy, but not everyone does. Clearly, something had to give, so they made this change. Now, when I see someone Heart something I shared, I feel a sense of ‘aww, thanks’ as opposed to ‘yes, score’! Maybe that was the intention, and it’s a shift I’ll have to get used to. I won’t completely disown Twitter because they’re evolving. That just wouldn’t be fair.
Twitter is the place to connect with any and everybody, regardless of status, location, etc. I’ve always loved the platform for that very reason. You can freely contact/tweet just about anyone, and that’s awesome. And sometimes, once in a great while, someone you never expect to respond actually does, and for a brief moment (15 seconds, at least), you think to yourself ‘hey, that’s pretty cool’.
Since Twitter’s update, apparently, engagement has risen and people are ‘Hearting’ more things more often. So maybe there is something appealing about the Heart?
Hearts, Likes, Stars… whatever. Cute little symbols and pictures make us happy, temporarily, but in the end, they’re pretty irrelevant. The lasting impressions will always be meaningful exchanges and those gems you connect with out of the blue.
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