Facebook’s popularity was taken by a storm after the addition of a new emoji reaction feature. But, guess what! Now, even Twitter is gearing up for the release of a feature resembling Facebook.
According to recent reports, the microblogging site – Twitter could introduce emoji reactions and downvotes for tweets. In a small survey, Twitter users were asked to pick five emojis out of 20 which they would like to see if Twitter rolled out the emoji reactions feature.
The social networking service is currently working on a handful of updates including, audio chat rooms, Super Follow, and a paywalled time-limited Undo Tweet option.
However, owing to the emoji feature, Twitter might end up micing Facebook and its feature which was introduced on its platform in 2016. Twitter’s survey also asked users to pick the best one of three sets of emojis and that set reportedly contained seven emojis.
The microblogging site has been in talks to introduce the emoji feature since June 2020. According to the survey, expressions like Like, Funny, Interesting, Sad, Awesome, Support, and Angry are likely to be added on the new emoji panel which is yet to be confirmed.
A 9to5Mac report suggests, in some cases, the Awesome reaction uses a fire emoji instead of a surprised face, while the Support reaction shows raised hands instead of a hugging emoji.
In addition to that, the social media platform is likely to introduce upvote and downvote options for tweets, which again seems to be an inspiration from Reddit. However, seems concerned about the possible impact of this feature as a question in the survey asks how users would feel if their tweet was downvoted, reported. NewsBytes.
More screenshots of Twitter’s ideas for adding emoji reactions to tweets
h/t @WFBrother pic.twitter.com/BRFo0gRD8H
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) March 24, 2021
Well, there’s a lot for the company to settle down for, but as of now Twitter seems to be more interested in Facebook’s reactions.
It is also speculated that the downvotes may negatively impact the mental health of Twitterati, especially because Twitter doesn’t offer the veil of anonymity that Reddit does, reported Pocketnow.
Replying to a user curious about emoji reactions Twitter’s Chief Design Officer Dantley wrote, “We’ll have something for you soon”.
Considering the upvote/downvote, Twitter might need to reflect more about it as these options are available across platforms including YouTube, Imgur, and Reddit. Twitter is surveying users and seems to be on the fence about it.
Meanwhile, the company is yet to comment if and when the new features would be tested or released.