It seems that Twitter is testing a new “Like” and “Star” button, instead of the traditional “Favorite” button. This new change appears to be showing up to only a certain users on the service. Twitter is testing this new terminology only to a limited group of users.
The concept of Like is not something new, and we have already seen its implementation on Facebook, but to like something does not always means that I like that status message, it can also mean that I read it, and it meant something to me.
To me, the word Like doesn’t much make sense on Twitter, and it looks like a copy of Facebook. The Like button could change the entire meaning and usage, and therefore, Twitter might be testing this in a limited fashion.
Twitter’s A-B testing of these new buttons should give them an idea of what to implement and what not. Here’s what Twitter’s post from May has to say about experimentation:
In order to offer you the simplest and most engaging Twitter experience, we frequently test hundreds of variations of new features and designs with small groups of users. We test everything from subtle tweaks in the language of our sign-up pages and removing the search box from our homepage, to big shifts in navigation elements. These experiments help us understand what experiences people like best or use most often. When an experiment ends, we study the results and roll out the most successful variation to everyone as soon as we can.
So, which button do you like? Is it the classic Favorite one, or these new Like and Star? If Twitter starts implementing these buttons, then the company would need to explain in detail, about the usage of these buttons.
(Via: TheNextWeb)
