Everything marketers need to know about Twitter replacing the star with a heart

I know what you’re thinking… and do you know how I know what you’re thinking? Because I’m thinking it too…

“You haven’t seriously published an article with this headline have you? It’s the most minor change to Twitter since it removed background images and you expect to deliver some trenchant insight that somehow says more than “yeah it’s a different shape now’?”

And that’s exactly what you should be thinking because you, dear sceptical reader, are my favourite type of reader. Someone who clicked on this article purely to justify their own increasing misanthropy.

But wait, please don’t skim right to the comments to leave your richly deserved snark just yet. I’ve set myself a challenge… I’m going to try my hardest to eke something interesting out of this flash-in-the-pan news-story, purely to justify my employment see if there is anything that digital marketers do need to know about the change, before eventually giving up and finally resorting to publishing loads of funny tweets about the whole thing just to fill up the remaining space. Then as soon as I’ve failed, you may feel free to launch your snark attacks.

You’re in for a bumpy ride, so you might as well get as comfortable as you can.

• It’s a different shape now.

• It used to be a star.

• Now it’s a heart.

• Twitter trialled this change four months ago, as noticed by Dan Barker…

I spotted the ‘star vs heart’ favourite test back in July. Means it took Twitter 4 months to test & roll out: https://t.co/ZuygW99ihz

— dan barker (@danbarker) November 3, 2015

• Other shapes Twitter trialled included ticks, thumbs up, heavy metal hand shape, the word ‘heart’, that weird ghost with the black eye emoji and something that looked uncomfortably similar to the wooden symbol the Blair Witch leaves hanging around forests.

• Some Twitter users have complained that they used favourite as a way to bookmark articles to read later and now they’ll be embarrassed to use a heart symbol. These people are males aged roughly between 40-45 years old and make up about 1.5% of all Twitter users* and should therefore be doing something more constructive with their time.

• The change has also affected Vine, Twitter’s six-second video app, but nobody will notice.

• When you like something on a tweet it looks like your heart has suffered a massive coronary due to the sheer brilliance of that person’s amazing tweet.

Here is a list of ways you now should be using the Twitter favourite button. Oh wait is it now a like button? Or a heart button?**

• When you secretly want to tell someone on Twitter you’ve always been in love with them and you believe their tweets are solely for the benefit of yourself.

• When you want to tell someone on Twitter that you’re standing right behind them, looking over their shoulder at their phone.

• When British Gas has screwed you for the third time this month and you’ve decided to get revenge on them by employing the subtlest sarcasm possible and liking every tweet they send. British Gas will think it just has a very loyal and committed customer. But you’ll know better, won’t you my friend? You’ll know better.

• Ordering pizza. Anyone whose tweet you ‘like’ will immediately be able to charge your debit card £12.99 and deliver you a pepperoni pizza within 7-10 working days. (Vegetarian option available underneath the pepperoni).

• Telling someone they have a bit of food on their face in their profile picture.

Is that everything? Yeah I reckon. Until three months time when Twitter panics about the fact it might need a ‘sympathy’ button too.

*remember to fact check this later.
** remember to fact check this later.