;-P

Twitter is testing some really fun emoji buttons

Beyond like.
Beyond like.
Image: REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
By
We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Two weeks ago, Twitter made a big decision:Ā out with the stars, in with the hearts.

For the company, which has been struggling to appeal to a more mainstream audience, it seemed that letting people expressĀ their feelings toward a tweet withĀ a heartā€”which, similar toĀ Facebookā€™s ubiquitous thumbs up icon, means ā€œlikeā€ā€”just made more sense than stars, which used to mean ā€œfav.ā€

Taking another page from Facebookā€™s book, it appears Twitter is now testingĀ the option to letĀ users respond with the emoji of their choosing. Some users have reported being able to pickĀ from an expanded emoji set, includingĀ šŸ˜œ, šŸŽ‰, šŸ’Æ, and of course šŸ’©.

A Twitter representative sent Quartz the following statement regarding the test:Ā šŸ™Š

Facebook spent years debating whether or not to supplement its like button. In October, the company finally added six emoji buttons, with the hopes of letting users express themselves more widely.Ā As the company had discovered, there are many instances when people donā€™t like the stories they hit ā€œlikeā€ on. Often,Ā users impulsively hit the thumbs up iconĀ to foster a connection with the person who posted. While the like button did cultivateĀ positivity, it was an inappropriate response to tragic or sad news.

Twitter, which has become aĀ crucialĀ source for breaking news, is learning Facebookā€™s lesson as well. The recent Paris attacks is a perfect example of when ā€œlikeā€ isnā€™t an appropriate emotional response.

But as TechCrunch points out, Twitterā€™s been on a quest to simplify its serviceā€”itā€™s the motivation behind the seemingly insignificant change from stars to heartsā€”andĀ an expanded set of emoji responsesĀ could serve to complicate a service that most people already find convoluted.