Twitter chief hints at deleting its ‘like’ button

Rumors are swirling that Twitter might soon remove the ability to “like” tweets.

The Telegraph first published the news based on comments made by the platform’s co-founder and chief executive at a private event.

The Telegraph reported:

Founder Jack Dorsey last week admitted at a Twitter event that he was not a fan of the heart-shaped button and that it would be getting rid of it “soon”.

Vox reported:

“Right now we have a big Like button with a heart on it and we’re incentivizing people to want [the number of likes] to go up,” Dorsey reportedly said. “Is that the right thing? Versus contributing to the public conversation or a healthy conversation? How do we [incentivize] healthy conversation?”

Dorsey has emphasized the “healthy conversation” initiative repeatedly over a summer during which he has been summoned to testify before Congress about Twitter’s perceived biases. His mood regarding the inefficacy of the “like” button in facilitating meaningful interaction seems to be supported by an otherwise vague response to the Telegraph report from Twitter’s communication team:

As we've been saying for a while, we are rethinking everything about the service to ensure we are incentivizing healthy conversation, that includes the like button. We are in the early stages of the work and have no plans to share right now. https://t.co/k5uPe5j4CW

— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) October 29, 2018

Though Twitter’s communications team didn’t confirm or deny the rumors via Twitter, a spokesman said the button won’t be taken anytime soon.

The Telegraph reported:

In March 2018 Twitter introduced “bookmarks” for saving tweets, signaling a pivot to a new system. A Twitter spokesman said: “At this point, there is no specific timeline for changes or particular planned changes to discuss.

“We're experimenting and considering numerous possible changes, all with an eye toward ensuring we're incentivising the right behaviors to drive healthy conversation.”

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Dorsey’s comments—followed by Twitter’s ambiguous comments and largely negative reactions from Twitter users—show the uphill battle the platform has been fighting to extinguish toxic behavior from its site. It’s one reason Twitter has struggled to attract new users in large supply, and with them, more advertising dollars.

Some argued that removing the button won’t help Twitter win that battle.

Bloomberg opinion columnist Noah Smith wrote:

The Like button is a much-needed way of delivering positive feedback on a platform that tends to amplify the negative. Likes are a quick, low-effort way of acknowledging a response or signaling approval — the Twitter equivalent of a nod of agreement. In order to see what Twitter is like without Likes, I’ve tried to go two days without Liking any tweets; after about an hour, the inability to give acknowledgment became unbearable and I had to log off. Without Likes, the only ways to indicate that you agree with or appreciate a tweet would be to either respond to it — which is impossible for Twitter users who receive floods of replies — or to retweet it, which is similarly prohibitive because it fills up one’s entire feed and quickly exhausts one’s readers.

And positivity is something Twitter desperately needs. Success on Twitter depends on virality — that is, having lots of people click the Retweet button. Positive tweets often go viral, but negative ones often do as well. When it comes to politics, the latter tend to dominate.

 

The Atlantic’s Taylor Lorenz suggested Twitter axe the retweet feature before banishing the like button:

The quest to accrue retweets regularly drives users to tweet outlandish comments, extremist opinions, fake news, or worse. Many users knowingly tweet false and damaging information and opinions in an effort to go viral via retweets. Entire Twitter accounts have been built on this strategy. If Twitter really wants to control the out-of-control rewards mechanisms it has created, the retweet button should be the first to go.

Removing the ability to like tweets is only one of the changes Twitter is considering to make the platform more friendly.

The Telegraph reported:

… [Dorsey] has hinted that he will be bringing in an option to edit tweets, change the verification process so that a blue tick is no longer a preserve of celebrities and “influencers” and that it could change how users’ follower counts are displayed.

Whatever Twitter decides to implement to stamp out negativity and fake news, it should work swiftly: On Tuesday, the platform launched an event page for the U.S. Midterm Elections. It didn’t take long for conspiracy theories and tweets from those who have spread fake news in the past to flood the page.

TechCrunch reported:

Beyond a promotional tweet from Dorsey, Twitter’s new offering is kind of buried — probably for the best. On desktop it’s a not particularly useful mash of national news reporters, local candidates and assorted unverifiable partisans. As Buzzfeed news details, the tool is swimming with conspiracy theories, including ones involving the migrant caravan. According to his social media posts, the Pittsburgh shooter was at least partially motivated by similar conspiracies, so this is not a good look to say the least.

Buzzfeed reported:

… [W]hile many tweets featured on Twitter’s new midterms page come from the verified accounts of political candidates and journalists, there are also quite a few from known conspiracy theorists; users promoting disinformation about candidates; and accounts with few followers, no profile photos, and low tweet counts — all signs of bot or spam accounts.

In September, Twitter banned “Infowars” host Alex Jones, but the decision was made weeks after other social media and tech platforms removed Jones. Dorsey has been outspoken about Twitter removing bias and being a platform that welcomes balanced viewpoints, but Twitter is having an increasingly hard time fighting negativity while honoring those ideals.

What do you think about Twitter potentially removing its like button? How would that change the way you use the platform?

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