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Twitter launches emoji reactions in Direct Messages

Bernard Hermant / Unsplash
Bernard Hermant / Unsplash

The ubiquity of the emoji keyboard means there’s a tiny symbol for everything whether it’s shrugging your shoulders at a suggestion to declaring your love for pizza at every available opportunity.

Now there’s a new way to express how you feel on Twitter. The micro-blogging platform has finally added emoji reactions to its direct message feature.

There are a total of seven emotions available, in a similar vein to Facebook Messenger – including the shocked face, crying face, flame, and a heart.

A pal sends you a funny joke? You can hit respond with the crying laughing face without trying to track down the right symbol. Upset at a news piece? The thumbs down emoji is ready to be used as a reaction.

The new Twitter emoji reaction feature is available on desktop, iOS and Android. If you’re on a computer, click the heart and plus icon that will appear when you hover over the message. On a mobile, double-tap the message and select an emoji from the pop-up.

If you do accidentally add a reaction when you don’t mean to, it’s easy to undo it and the symbol will be removed from the message for all participants. However, it’s worth noting that all conversation participants will receive a notification if you add a reaction, regardless of if you swiftly remove it so be sure to use them carefully.

Twitter is beginning to add lots of new features to the platform. At CES a few weeks ago, the company announced it will add a function which allows people to limit who can reply to their tweet. Soon, users will be able to limit replies to only their followers or no one at all, as a way to improve conversation on the platform and certainly limit abuse.

Whilst the Twitter emoji reactions are available now, you’ll have to wait till March to be able to try out the new replies feature.

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