Twitter Changes Stars to Hearts and Favorites to Likes

Posted on November 3, 2015

When you favorite a tweet on Twitter it is now represented by a heart icon instead of a star. The same change was made on Vine. The tweets or Vines you "heart" are also called "likes" now instead of favorites.

Longtime Twitter users are very used to the star symbol but Twitter says it is confusing to newcomers. Twitter says in a post about the change, "We want to make Twitter easier and more rewarding to use, and we know that at times the star could be confusing, especially to newcomers. You might like a lot of things, but not everything can be your favorite."

Twitter also says people loved the heart during tests.

Twitter says, "The heart, in contrast, is a universal symbol that resonates across languages, cultures, and time zones. The heart is more expressive, enabling you to convey a range of emotions and easily connect with people. And in our tests, we found that people loved it."

There is a great deal of coverage about the icon and name switch. It is currently the top story on Techmeme. There are also a great many tweets about the change. Some users don't like the idea because "likes" seem too much like Facebook. People will probably get used the hearts but we don't really think the concept of favorites was confusing users.