If you’re one of the few brave souls still on Twitter aka X you’ve noticed this week that one of the defining features of the platform—seeing if someone cool liked your post—has now been eliminated.
I know what you’re thinking: “Wait, is this just so users and bots can like porn and racism without anyone knowing?” How dare you jump to such outrageous conclusions! (That’s probably what’s happening here. Why else would you even do this?)
The change coming so soon after it was announced straight-up porn would now be allowed on Twitter is more than a li’l eyebrow-raising, though the feature was previously available to anyone who paid the $8 a month for that coveted blue check mark. (Again, coughing loudly for no reason.)
The official word from the platform is that the policy is to “better protect your privacy.” Sure, Jan.
Naturally, not everyone is taking the news so easily. One of the main crusaders against this change is Luke “Li’l Vader” Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.
One solution to the issue proposed has been for users to just comment “like” on posts they like, and apparently to prove that he’s not all talk, Hamill has done exactly that.
But at what cost?
This is no way to live. Twitter is supposed to be mindless. The more steps you add to the basic experience, the less likely folks are to engage. Still, Hamill is determined to let the platform at large know where his true “likes” lie.
Fortunately, Hamill's efforts have not gone unappreciated.
Luke Skywalker? More like Like Skywalker, you guys. Did I volunteer to cover this piece simply to write that line? You will live out your remaining days guessing!
Also, Hamill’s starring in Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot, which looks pretty cool and comes out September 27th. Good to see he’s got positive distractions.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post ‘I want people to know it was me’: Mark Hamill is on a crusade to bring back public likes on X appeared first on The Daily Dot.
