Twitter users seem to have love for the new heart feature.
Kevin Weil, Twitters's head of product, revealed at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco last week that the social network has seen a 6 percent increase of users liking tweets in just one week since the new symbol was released.
Previously, Twitter users could "favor" a tweet by clicking on the star icon. However, the company decided to do away with the star earlier this month in favor for the more universe social media symbol—the heart. Now "favorites" have been renamed as "likes," combining elements from both Instagram and Facebook.
And it seems like users are embracing the change, as the increased usage of the feature reflects the success of the heart.
"We tested it in a number of different ways across a bunch of different countries, trying different icons, trying different words and what we found was that the heart is a very universal symbol. It's a much more inclusive symbol," Weil said. "You only have a few favorites. There are only a few things that are your favorites but you can like lots of things."
And it seems like the company will continue to test different ways to represent likes, especially since some tweets call for different types of responses. For example, you wouldn't want to heart a comment about a report of a tragic incident, or maybe you want to show you strongly agree with a statement and feel like a heart falls flat on what emotion you are trying to convey.
As a result, Twitter may be working on introducing even more ways to react to a tweet. The company may have started testing the option for users to use multiple emojis besides the heart when responding to tweets. A Twitter user found the new emoji options that are part of a developer build that was accessed through a jailbroken version of Twitter. The emojis include the hands clapping, 100 symbol, and thumbs down—just to name a few.
It appears like the company is continuing to develop new features to appeal to new users. It might be working because Weil also reported at the Summit that there has been a 9 percent increase of new Twitter users.
The company recently released its first TV ad targeted for new users that showcased its Moments feature. However, the fast-paced video left some confused when it aired during this year's World Series.
Source: BBC
Photo: Johan Larsson | Flickr
