Twitter Running Tests To See If Hearts Are Better Than Stars

This article originally appeared on 60 Second Social.

Twitter is currently running a test to see if people prefer hearts to stars when it comes to the favourite button. On the Android platform, a small number of users have started to notice that the social network is swapping the favourite stars for hearts.

Reports indicate that Twitter is testing two variations, a heart with a circle around it or a heart with no boarder around it at all. Many of us will more than likely see no change at all however it is clear from various tweets and screenshots that some users are noticing a difference.

Of course we know from experience by now that Twitter can roll out large scale tests that never get to a public rollout stage however this particular test is interesting as it follows Twitter investor Chris Sacca’s 8,500 word memo earlier this month titled, “What Twitter Can Be.”

In his memo, Sacca addressed hearts specifically saying that;

“If Twitter integrated a simple heart gesture into each Tweet, engagement across the entire service would explode. More of us would be getting loving feedback on our posts and that would directly encourage more posting and more frequent visits to Twitter.”

Is it possible that Twitter has taken a cue from the memo and decided to look at implementing such a change? More than likely, yes.

There is no denying that the Twitter we love is a Twitter in transition at the moment. Their long term CEO has stepped down. Jack Dorsey will fill in as interim CEO from the 1st July and the future of the Twitter we know now is hanging in the balance.

Twitter has been made a handful of large scale changes since the start of the year in the form of new features, as well as that they have just disclosed new details for a live coverage service called Project Lightning. They have also announced the acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Whetlab although they have not disclosed what their plans for the service may be yet.

Either way, the Twitter at the end of 2015 will look a lot different than the Twitter at the end of 2014. It remains to be seen if those changes will be for the better or for the worse.

About The Author

Mark is the founder of 60 Second Social media where he provides social media news and digital marketing analysis. He has an Advanced Diploma in Psychology and a Diploma in Digital Marketing And Social Media. You can follow him on Twitter here. You can also follow 60 Second Social on Twitter here. Or you can drop Mark an email at, daltomark@me.com