Twitter seems to be having some doubts about a very crucial part of its service—the like button. Wading through a cesspool of hot takes, racist trolls, and political animosity, liking content is a way to navigate through the smog and shine a light on all the funny/useful stuff people actually come to Twitter for.
But according to The Telegraph, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey recently said he wanted to get rid of the like button “soon” in order to “improve the quality of debate.” Banning hate speech, attempted bombers, and possibly No. 45 might also foster better debate, but perhaps Dorsey has hopped onto whatever wave Kanye is currently riding.
It’s important to note that some, including BuzzFeed News’ Katie Notopoulos, are doubting the accuracy of this new report. “Last week Twitter met with reporters (including BuzzFeed) to show off several potential new features, this was not mentioned,” she tweeted.
Twitter shared a vague response to the report that seemed kind of like a confirmation. "We are in the early stages of the work and have no plans to share right now," the company tweeted.
But people on Twitter are embracing the news as a real possibility. If The Telegraph’s report is true, then it might be time to brace ourselves for the beginning of the end. Without validation, it’s almost certain that all the fun parts of Twitter (memes, dog videos, beef) would wither away. Please just give us an edit button and go.
