This will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by Twitter users, and will see no negative over-reaction whatsoever in response.
According to TechCrunch, over the past month, Twitter has been surveying users about the potential of adding a broader set of emoji-style reactions on tweets, giving people more ways to quickly engage in the app.
As you can see in this mock-up, the new process would not only add a new emoji reaction option on every tweet, but Twitter is also gauging user interest in a Reddit style up and downvote option, which could factor into tweet distribution and engagement.
Reddit has seen great success with what’s essentially user moderation via up and downvotes. The option ensures that the best content rises to the top of the Reddit feed, while poor posts lose out. Twitter could benefit from the same, which could see negative, abusive tweets buried, while great tweets glean more exposure.
If it actually works that way. The risk is that people will upvote controversial, divisive opinions, which will do nothing to address Twitter’s issues with facilitating the spread of such content – though, theoretically, it could still increase tweet engagement, if the top tweets are given more traction as a result.
In many ways, that addition would overshadow the emoji reactions, though it’s not entirely clear that Twitter is considering the addition both, or one or the other, at this stage.
This is not the first time Twitter has experimented with quick reactions, nor up and downvotes for tweets.
Twitter added reactions in direct messages last January, after months, even years, of testing, while it also briefly experimented with Reactions on tweets back in 2015.
Twitter also showcased a potential up and downvote option for tweets in 2018, though in a vastly different form.
As such, it’s not a huge surprise to see Twitter revisiting these ideas, particularly given its newfound sense of momentum in product development. But given past history, Twitter users will not take kindly to the idea.
Does anyone remember what happened when Twitter changed the favorites star to a heart instead?
The reaction was not great – but of course, as with all things Twitter, after a day or two, people found something else to be upset about and the focus shifted once again.
Maybe, then, Twitter can see the long-term benefit of such, despite the likely short-term angst. And maybe, it’ll work, and provide Twitter with more ways to show their response to a tweet, and even help the best tweets gain more traction. It would certainly add a whole new consideration to your tweet process.
We’ll keep you updated on any progress.
