- Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey reportedly said he was looking to remove the ability to “like” tweets, the Telegraph reports.
- Twitter responded that it had no plans to remove the feature at the moment, but it was rethinking the “like” button as part of a bigger plan to ensure the platform is “incentivizing healthy conversation.”
- Nonetheless, users took to Twitter to voice their opinions, and they were not happy about it.
Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey reportedly said at an event last week he wanted to “soon” remove the “like” button from the platform, according to the Telegraph.
Twitter quickly denied the report and said that it had “no plans to share right now.”
“As we’ve been saying for a while, we are rethinking everything about the service to ensure we are incentivizing healthy conversation, that includes the like button,” Twitter Comms said in a tweet.
But Twitter’s denial didn’t stop users from reacting to the Telegraph story with emotional freak-outs and jabs at the social media platform.
Users: hey can you get rid of the Nazis please
Twitter: ok sure, we've changed the stars to hearts for likes
Users: no no, zero Nazis please
Twitter: yep we're getting rid of Vine
Users: nah hey, what about the Nazis
Twitter: ok ok fine, no more likes https://t.co/HKE0BrCiVU
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) October 29, 2018
Apparently, the story about Twitter removing the Like button is not accurate and based on only one quote. Wow, poor Jack; I can't imagine what it's like to be the victim of quickly spreading misinformation. Thoughts and prayers.
— R. Eric Thomas (@oureric) October 29, 2018
Removing the ability to like anything on Twitter is a strikingly literal response to the experience of being on Twitter.
— R. Eric Thomas (@oureric) October 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/ryanyeetz/status/1056908275256606720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/MaxKennerly/status/1056884241764700166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
At the WIRED25 summit earlier this month, Dorsey vocalized his unhappiness with the "big like button with a heart on it." However, he did not mention any plans to remove the feature, which Twitter's VP of communications Brandon Borrman reiterated in a tweet following the Telegraph story.
Dorsey has also floated the idea he plans to revamp Twitter as a way to stop "echo chambers" from proliferating on the site. Twitter is often criticized for a perceived "laissez-faire response" to trolls, threatening posts, the proliferation of bot accounts, and misinformation and fake news.
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