Twitter is ditching one of its oldest features so it can mimic Facebook

Twitter Inc. hearts Facebook Inc. likes. The 140-character social media service on Tuesday said that it is dropping the term “favorites” in favor of “likes.” The company is also switching out the star associated with the favorite button for a heart, a symbol used on Facebook’s Instagram app as well as Twitter’s livestreaming Periscope app. Twitter said the hearts will also be used in its Vine app. After all, “You might like a lot of things, but not everything can be your favorite,” said Twitter product manager Akarshan Kumar in a blog post. It is not the big change users might be expecting though: extending the length of tweets beyond 140 characters. Unlike a star, the heart is “a universal symbol,” wrote Mr. Kumar. In tests, Twitter found that users love hearts. And love from new users is what Twitter needs. The change, though minor, is another way the new CEO, co-founder Jack Dorsey, is trying to make Twitter less confusing to people like the company’s new chairman Omid Kordestani, an infrequent user. The pressing issue was underscored by the company’s dismal user growth numbers revealed last week. Twitter said that 307 million users signed into the service on the Web or its mobile application at least once a month during the three months through September 30. That is three million more users than the previous quarter.