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:
The ‘favorite’ button on twitter just changed to a ‘like’ button. Semantically, That’s a real step down in how impressive I find your tweet.
Anyone else noticed the “Favourite” button on Twitter is now a “Like” button? When did Facebook marry Twitter?
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?