Stars no more: Twitter ditches stars, adds hearts for likes

This screen shot made Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015 shows tweets on the AP Business News Twitter feed, featuring heart icons that, when clicked, means that a reader "likes" a tweet. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press

November 05, 2015

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You'll no longer see stars on Twitter because the messaging service has removed the star icon found under every tweet and replaced it with a heart.

Twitter Inc. said it made the change because the star can be confusing to new users and the heart is more universally known around the globe.

Before the change, clicking the star meant a tweet was a "favorite" but now, clicking the heart means you "like" a tweet.

The San Francisco company has been trying to make its service easier to use to lure new users. In October, it launched a channel that brings together video, photos and news stories, so users can find hot topics quicker. The push to make Twitter simpler comes from co-founder Jack Dorsey, who was named permanent CEO last month.

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CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION

Why does Twitter care how symbols are perceived around the world?

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COMMENTS (62)

sierrab-ste

11/09/2015 - 04:28 p.m.

I don't understand why this had to be changed. Twitter has used this for a long time so it's useless to change it now. People will learn that the star means favorite if they really want to use twitter.

thomasm-day

11/11/2015 - 10:02 a.m.

I like the new change twitter has made from the favorite to the like. Now people that are new to twitter from all over the world know what the world like over the word favorite. It is the same exact thing but it helps bring twitter to more of a global social app. Now maybe with the change of one little thing like that the whole world will be more willing to give this social media app a chance.

josephe-mil

11/12/2015 - 08:09 a.m.

everyone knows a heart mean to like something they are trying to make it easier to use

tylerc-1-mil

11/12/2015 - 08:10 a.m.

Some new people to Twitter may be confused on what the star does.

tristane-mil

11/12/2015 - 08:13 a.m.

Kinda pointless to change that not a big deal. The heart and the star why have news stories over something so pointless?

jerryd-mil

11/12/2015 - 08:13 a.m.

So they can bring in new people to use it and make more money

carae-mil

11/12/2015 - 08:17 a.m.

The company wants to draw more users so they use more universally accepted symbols, such as the heart to "like" a tweet.

kayleighb-mil

11/12/2015 - 08:19 a.m.

Because they want to fit in

katelyns-1-mil

11/12/2015 - 08:20 a.m.

Twitter doesn't want to confuse others around the world. They want everyone to understand and be able to relate to Twitter so they will have more users. People may not use twitter just because they don't understand it.

dustinw-mil

11/12/2015 - 08:21 a.m.

Why is this a topic?