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  • Twitter Killed the Favorite, Now It Needs a Save Button

    Twitter Killed the Favorite, Now It Needs a Save Button

    Twitter just killed the favorite – the star you’ve known and loved for years – and replaced it with a “like” in the form of a heart. Does it change a whole lot? Probably not. Fav’ing wasn’t the most important tweet action anyway. That, of course, goes to the retweet.

    Still, it seems like everyone is pissed. Just take a look at Twitter right now and do your best unscientific poll of user sentiment. The majority of people tweeting about the change are tweeting some level of disapproval. Why is Twitter trying to be Facebook with the “like”? or Why is Twitter trying to be Instagram with that heart or Why the hell did Twitter get rid of something that distinguished itself from the pack? The favorite was pure Twitter, through and through, and now it’s dead.

    Ok fine. It’s dead. Really, everyone will get over it.

    But now Twitter needs to add a “save” button.

    Sure, most of your uses of the favorite star over the years have probably been to show approval someone’s tweet, or agree with it, or like what they’re saying.

    That’s not the only thing Twitter’s fav star was used for, however. A smaller, but still important use of the favorite was to simply bookmark or save a tweet for later. Scrolling through your feed and see a tweet with a recipe you want to make later? Fav it. Scrolling through your feed and see a strange GIF you want to show a friend later? Fav it.

    But there were also the times when you’d want to favorite a tweet that you found awful, repugnant, or otherwise distasteful. Let’s say something that Donald Trump just tweeted. Newsworthy? Sure. I want to save that tweet for later. But do I like it? Do I heart it?

    Probably not.

    Like I said before, people will probably use the heart the same way they use the star – for the most part. But Twitter needs to give users an option to easily bookmark a tweet for later – a sort of “save without endorsement” button.

  • Twitter Replaces “Favorite” with “Like,” “Star” for Some Users

    Would you rather “like” a tweet than “favorite” it? What about the word “star?” Does that sound better than “favorite?” You should start thinking about which one you prefer, because you may have to complain to Twitter in the future. That’s because the social media service is reportedly testing out new terminology for their “favorite” feature for tweets.

    Spotted by The Next Web, some Twitter users are seeing the words “like” and “star” appear within tweets next to the “reply” and “retweet” buttons. Of course, those terms are replacing “favorite,” the term that Twitter has employed to allow users to save tweets for a few years now.

    Apparently, the test is pretty small and everyone here is still seeing “favorite.” TNW has a screencap of the new “like” test:

    There is some chatter about the test on the network:

    Like any social media company, Twitter tests plenty of features – most of which never really come to fruition. This small test could simply come and go.

    But if Twitter chooses to replace “favorite” with another word, it would be a pretty big change for users. A ‘”like” button would no doubt remind users of Facebook – which could be a good or bad thing, depending on the user. “Like” also connotes a more positive sentiment than “favorite,” as a user could favorite a tweet that they don’t agree with just to have it saved for reference.

    “Star” is even less definitive one way or the other. That word doesn’t really imply any positive or negative support, just that it has been starred for later.

    What do you think? Are you content with “favorite,” or would you like to see Twitter make a change?