Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has been the philosopher king of the social-media world. Perched atop a throne of hashtags, one-liners, and relentless destruction of character, users have impartially observed the base animal “liking” occurring on disgustingly emotional platforms like Facebook and Instagram. They might bestow favor, but they could never love.
Until today.
In case you haven’t been on Twitter today—or Facebook, where people go to complain about Twitter, and vice versa—The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Twitter has replaced its starred “favorites” with heart-shaped “likes,” a change the company says on its official blog is meant to be “more expressive, enabling you to convey a range of emotions and easily connect with people.” The actual range of emotions that accompanied this seemingly inconsequential change, however, was rather limited, with users expressing confusion, outrage, and ironic detatchment—a.k.a. The Three Stages Of Social-Media Grief—about the mandate to like one another. This guy seems to be taking it all in stride, though:
Once the initial shock wears off, maybe, looking at that little heart symbol, we might be inspired to start being nicer to each other online. But probably not.