Twitter Pushes Back on Report 'Like' Button Will Be Dropped

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The rumors of the “like” buttons death have been greatly exaggerated, Twitter said on Monday.

The company is pushing back on a report that its chief executive, Jack Dorsey, teased the impending removal of the “like” button.

The Telegraph reported on Monday that Dorsey said at a recent company event that the feature would be scrapped “soon.” Dorsey said he “was not a fan of the heart-shaped button,” according to the Telegraph. But Twitter, when reached for comment by TheWrap, said that isn’t the case.

Also Read: If You Hate-Follow Dennis Miller on Twitter, You'll Hate-Love His New Stand-Up Special

Twitter pointed to a tweet from Brandon Borrman, a member of its communications team, saying the company has been “open” to changing the like feature, but that there’s “no timeline. It’s not happening ‘soon.'”

Short story on "like." We've been open that we're considering it. Jack even mentioned it in front of the US Congress. There's no timeline. It's not happening "soon." https://t.co/jXBmkudWYv

— Brandon Borrman (@bborrman) October 29, 2018

Borrman’s response added to Twitter’s communications account saying it was “rethinking everything” but that it had “no plans to share right now.”

The like button replaced the “favorite” button back in 2015 — with the company explaining at the time: “You might like a lot of things, but not everything can be your favorite.” It’s since acted as a stepbrother to the retweet button, where a user liked your tweet, but not enough to share it.

Also Read: Twitter Deletes 18 Accounts Tied to Alex Jones, InfoWars

Twitter has made a concerted push this year to “improve the health of the conversation,” as the company has routinely put it. Dorsey, speaking at Wired’s 25th anniversary summit earlier this month, appeared to be considering whether the like button helped the company reach this goal.

“We have a big like button with a heart on it and we’re incentivizing people to want it to go up,” Dorsey said. “Is that the right thing? Versus contributing to the public conversation or a healthy conversation? How do we incentivize healthy conversation?”

7 Stars Who Have Joined #DeleteFacebook Movement, From Will Ferrell to Susan Sarandon (Photos)

For over a month, Facebook has been dealing with the PR nightmare sparked by its admission that the data of up to 87 million users was secretly accessed by consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, and later used to help Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

The slip up sparked the #DeleteFacebook hashtag, in which people on Twitter and other spaces announce they're doing precisely that. Facebook has tried to course-correct with new security measures, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg agreeing to testify before Congress. But that wasn't enough to keep some A-listers from joining #DeleteFacebook.

Here's a look at the celebs that have dropped their profiles (so far).
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Elon Musk didn't seem to hesitate when a Twitter follower dared him to delete the Facebook profile for SpaceX, his rocket company.

Not only did Musk axe the SpaceX page (claiming he wasn't aware one even existed,) he also deleted the Tesla page as well, saying it "looks lame anyway."

The two accounts combined had about 5 million followers.
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Cher tweeted that it was "VERY HARD" to delete her account, because of the "amazing young Ppl there." But delete it she did. If only Facebook could turn back time (I'll show myself out).

The Goddess of Pop must've been talking about her personal page only, however, because her commercial page is still live. Guess it's hard to delete those 2.4 million followers.
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The OG of #DeleteFacebook, Jim Carrey was off the social network even before the Cambridge Analytica news made it cool. Carrey dumped his Facebook stock and ditched his profile back in February, because the company "profited from Russian interference in our elections and they’re still not doing enough to stop it."
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Alright, Woz didn't technically delete his profile. The Apple co-founder said he was too worried about losing ownership of the "stevewoz” handle. But he deactivated the account, saying Facebook has a one-way relationship with its users. “The profits are all based on the user’s info, but the users get none of the profits back," Woz told USA Today.
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Deleting Facebook is so hot right now, at least according to Will Ferrell. The "Anchorman" star erased his profile at the end of March, saying on his page "Cambridge Analytica's misuse of millions of Facebook users' information in order to undermine our democracy and infringe on our citizens' 'privacy'" was the reason for his exodus.
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Singer Roseanne Cash, daughter of country great Johnny Cash, announced on March 29 that she would delete her Facebook account the next day. That remains to be seen, however: the page is still live as of April 9.
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On April 12, Susan Sarandon announced she was quitting Facebook via Instagram (which is also owned by Facebook), posting a quote by Charles Bukowski that begins, "Censorship is the tool of those who have the need to hide actualities from themselves and from others."
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Several Hollywood and Silicon Valley heavy hitters recently ditched the social network

For over a month, Facebook has been dealing with the PR nightmare sparked by its admission that the data of up to 87 million users was secretly accessed by consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, and later used to help Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

The slip up sparked the #DeleteFacebook hashtag, in which people on Twitter and other spaces announce they're doing precisely that. Facebook has tried to course-correct with new security measures, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg agreeing to testify before Congress. But that wasn't enough to keep some A-listers from joining #DeleteFacebook.

Here's a look at the celebs that have dropped their profiles (so far).

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