Twitter appears to be testing Facebook-like reactions again. Nine months after reports surfaced of a defunct experiment featuring emoji retorts, the microblogging site is surveying users about updated sets.
Based on screenshots of the in-app poll, people are being asked to choose between three different reaction sets. While most options (Like, Funny, Interesting, Sad) remain the same across each proposal, three are up for debate.
Do you prefer a surprised face or flames to signify something is “awesome”? Would you rather give a thumbs up/down, “100”/”No”, or Reddit-esque upvote/downvote arrow when agreeing or disagreeing? The survey includes questions about whether folks want to see negative reaction counts and how they would use an angry icon.
“We’re exploring additional ways for people to express themselves in conversations happening on Twitter,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. Twitter did not immediately respond to PCMag’s request for comment.
There is no guarantee the social network will actually roll out emoji reactions, or whether they’ll include any of the surveyed options, which look substantially different from the icons spotted last year by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong. In January 2020, Twitter introduced Facebook-like responses to Direct Messages, but still only invites people to “heart” public tweets.
Earlier this month, Wong discovered an unannounced “Undo Send” feature. If launched, it would give users a few seconds to rethink their post before it goes live. It’s not quite an edit button, but may be the closest we’ll ever get, considering CEO Jack Dorsey’s stance on the topic.
