In July 2023, Elon Musk announced that Twitter would be rebranding as "X," spurring numerous discussions about the future of the social media platform and how it's used. One particular rumor went viral, gaining millions of views, claiming this: If you click the "like" button in the shape of a heart underneath tweets, the button would change into an "X".
no way elon added this new animation #TwitterX pic.twitter.com/Sf6tgomvai
— hïme!⛧ (@himewyd) July 24, 2023
One social media account wrote, "Apparently the like button is now an ? and not a heart… like to see if it works for you #TwitterX" — encouraging social media users to "like" the post. Others commented, "Wow, they've completely revamped the like button animation!"
Wow, they've completely revamped the like button animation! ?? #TwitterX #Xitter #X pic.twitter.com/b3wKUy3a4g
— Pepe Fren (@PepeFren_) July 26, 2023
We clicked the "like" button on several tweets ourselves and saw that it did not change into an "X." Moreover, we found no official statements from Twitter, nor any reputable sources, substantiating the claim. At the time of this writing, Twitter's Help Center page said, by tapping the heart icon to "like" a tweet, the button would turn red.
As such, we rated this rumor "False."
(Twitter Help Center Screenshot)
Similar false claims about Twitter's "like" button surfaced in July 2023. For example, posts claimed that the button would turn into a Roblox animation or a sports logo.
This is cool, Twitter added a #Roblox animation to the like button. pic.twitter.com/Kn2coNjgI5
— Jofu (@J0fuu) July 21, 2023
We previously fact-checked other false rumors about Twitter's rebranding, including one that claimed a "tweet" was now a "xeet." We also debunked a false claim that an episode of The Simpsons predicted Twitter's rebranding to "X."