Twitter is testing a new ‘Liked by Author’ label that appears when the creator of a tweet likes your reply. A reporter on the TechCrunch team spotted the new label in the Twitter Android app. A spokesperson from Twitter confirmed to TechCrunch that the company has been testing different labels to help give people context about the tweets they see, but said the social media giant doesn’t have more to share on this specific label.
From what we can tell so far, once the author of a tweet likes a reply, it’s marked with a badge that is visible to both the person who left the reply and to others viewing it. Although it’s unconfirmed if the label is being tested globally, we’re seeing reports of users in several countries spotting the label.
It’s worth noting that the new label is similar to TikTok’s “Liked by Creator” badge that similarly appears when the creator of a video likes a comment.
Twitter’s new label could be bothersome for some users who see it as a distraction or unnecessary addition to what could be an already crowded tweet. It may also seem a bit redundant when it’s displayed next to a reply that only has one like. On the other hand, some users may see it as a welcome addition, especially if they want to showcase that their tweet was liked by a notable user, such as a celebrity. In addition, the new label may also be useful in instances where a tweet has received numerous replies and the original poster wants to highlight a few of them without having to directly reply to them.
Given that the label is still in the testing phase, it’s unknown if Twitter plans to officially roll it out to all users.