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Twitter is reportedly set to remove ‘likes’—and no one is happy about it

The news reportedly comes straight from an event with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

Photo of Ana Valens

Ana Valens

Twitter is changing its like system, and many believe it isn't for the best.

In a bid that surely won’t backfire, Twitter is about to change its social media platform by removing “likes,” the Telegraph reports. The reason? Apparently, Twitter thinks removing likes will make discussions much better on the service.

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The news reportedly comes straight from an event with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, who claims that he never particularly enjoyed the system and that the site would “soon” do away with it altogether. Additional changes include letting users edit tweaks and a new verification system “so that a blue tick is no longer a preserve of celebrities and ‘influencers,’” the Telegraph states. All three are part of a list of changes behind the scenes to cut down on the site’s “echo chambers” and create a “healthier place” online.

As for when Twitter users can expect likes to go away, one Twitter spokesman stressed that the company isn’t ready to open up on the details quite yet.

“At this point, there is no specific timeline for changes or particular planned changes to discuss,” a spokesman told the Telegraph. “We’re experimenting and considering numerous possible changes, all with an eye toward ensuring we’re incentivizing the right behaviors to drive healthy conversation.”

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While Twitter has received an enormous wave of criticism over the platform’s ongoing problems with online harassment, bigotry, and abuse toward women, removing likes is the last thing most Twitter users wanted. In fact, the system was praised as a discreet way to express love and support toward other Twitter users. For particularly personal tweets, like posting selfies or announcing a breakup, a “like” hits the perfect balance between sending too much care and not enough at all.

Suffice to say, Twitter isn’t happy with the supposedly upcoming change.

https://twitter.com/LouisatheLast/status/1056881058250137600

https://twitter.com/Xythar/status/1056883248544935936

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Others point out that removing likes won’t necessarily fix the real problem: getting rid of abusive Twitter users, like the site’s white nationalist mobs.

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Not to mention, likes represent users’ most secret parts of themselves. It’s not uncommon to find prominent politicians randomly liking porn tweets or conspiracy theories, causing some interesting discussions online.

https://twitter.com/libbycwatson/status/1056909545711251456

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https://twitter.com/SantaInc/status/1056913340671258624

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https://twitter.com/purlgurly/status/1056884097417703426

https://twitter.com/ryanyeetz/status/1056908275256606720

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Meanwhile, billionaire and shitposter extraordinaire Elon Musk was temporarily locked out of his Twitter account after he tweeted about his love for catgirls and anime. It remains unclear if the site is expanding account security and protection to differentiate between false positives and real security incidents.

H/T the Telegraph

 
The Daily Dot