The designers at Twitter threw a curveball at users worldwide with their latest update on Nov. 3, in which they switched out the “favorites” star icon feature with a “like” heart.
Social media networks are often subject to change frequently in order to keep up with the times, so it is no surprise that Twitter would replace favorites with the widely-integrated “like.”
This small shift in a relatively simple feature upset a large majority of people on the platform, though, as if a beloved member of the family had passed away suddenly.
The amount of concern shown over the death of a “star” was truly alarming, considering many major news events do not even get that kind of coverage.
Widespread revolt seemed to ensue as users petitioned to bring back the “favorite,” but for what purpose?
Subtle changes, especially in appearance, are such minute details they should not matter. There are bigger events occurring on a daily basis in the surrounding community.
The society that exists on social media is something else, as demonstrated by this instance, but the larger problem that remains is that the focus of coverage should be on legitimate events, not just the change of a star with a heart.
