On Tuesday, microblogging platform Twitter introduced a heart-shaped icon called Like to replace the much-loved star-shaped Favorite. It’s the latest move in the company’s effort to make its platform more engaging. Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co analyst James Cakmak said Twitter was trying to make its website more consistent with the user experience on other platforms. Facebook and YouTube already feature Like buttons.
However, the new heart-shaped Like icon got little love from users. Immediately after the company announced the change, a hashtag called #WeWantFavButtonBack started trending. The heart symbol is already used on Twitter’s livestreaming Periscope app, and will also be used in the Vine app. Twitter product manager Akarshan Kumar said in a blog post that you may like a lot of things, but “not everything can be your favorite.”
These extensions can get the old star icon back on Twitter
If you don’t like the change, there are several ways to replace the heart icon with the good old star-shaped Favorite. Here are a few extensions in the Chrome App Store that will let you go back to the beloved ‘fav’ star.
Twitter Star: It’s quick and easy. Install the extension, go to Twitter, and find the same star icon.
Twitter Favorite: Install this extension and change that pesky heart icon back to the old Favorite star.
StarBack: This extension was put together just minutes after Twitter announced the changes. Yes, it reverts the heart icon to the old star, but its developers admitted that it might not be perfect.
Stylish: This extension is available for Chrome as well as Firefox. According to Gizmodo, Stylish lets you turn the heart icon into any emoji of your choice. Want to replace the heart icon with a beer emoji? Stylish is the right tool for you.
Twitter has increasingly come under pressure to boost user engagement and revenues. Amid poor quarterly results and job cuts, Twitter co-founder and new CEO Jack Dorsey faces an uphill task to get more people to use Twitter more often.
Twitter shares rose 0.10% to $29.16 in pre-market trading Wednesday.
