Twitter emoji reactions get a thumbs down from users

Twitter is already infamous for being a battleground of opinion, arguments and a whole load of trolling. What better idea then to add emoji to the mix, or emoji reactions to be precise. We're talking about those bouncy icons below Facebook posts that you 'Heart' or 'Thumbs Down' like some Roman emoticon-emperor.

The social media giant has recently been surveying users on whether they want a wider range of emoji-style reactions, proposing popular icons like a crying LOL face, crying sad face, and that chin-stroking face too pretentious for tears. The news prompted some to declare they'll flounce from the platform if this comes to pass; any creatives leaving Twitter would do well in checking out our social media tips to master the other platforms out there.

tweet — Will this update be the final straw for users? (Image credit: John D Moore @jdm0079)

John D Moore was one of those sharing the Twitter survey being rolled out to select users on the site, with his screenshot showing the brand considering other emoji like Anger, Awesome and the hugging Support face. The options are being presented in rows of sets, with alternate options available for the Awesome and Support icons (as shown below.)

Clearly Twitter is taking emoji support seriously, probably in reaction to sites like Facebook and LinkedIn employing similar sets for a good while now. More contentiously, you may soon see Thumbs to go alongside the simple choice of a Like and retweet button below current Tweets, mimicking the upvote and downvotes seen across YouTube videos and Reddit posts. What could possibly go wrong there?

Having the vote option may help to bury unpopular tweets much like the Twitter algorithm currently does; just as worrying may be the potential for abuse to downvote anyone or anything one may be inclined to disagree with.

Emojis, eh? It's not all happy faces and aubergine gags. But we think Twitter is again missing a trick by not exploring the one thing most Twitter users really want – an edit button to polish an incorrectly spelled Tweet or accidental send. We're sure Burger King would have loved one after sending this particularly misjudged and tasteless tweet recently.

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Giacomo is a writer and talking head who has covered creativity and creative tools for Wallpaper*, Digital Arts, Creative Boom, VICE, Little White Lies, the BBC and more. Giacomo has also hosted for Adobe and D&AD, and judged the annual New Blood Awards. He was deputy editor of Creative Bloq for a short time in 2021.