I’ve been making a more conscious effort to participate on Twitter lately – I often come across some interesting links worth following, and frankly I enjoy the challenge of expressing myself within the 140-character limit. But, something is missing from Twitter – something that would make my experience a lot more convenient, enjoyable and valuable.

Twitter needs a “Like” button.

And here are four instances where I’d use it:

1. Someone says something really clever, or “right on,“ but it’s several hours before I see it. I want them to know I liked their thought, but I don’t want to compose a whole tweet referencing “that thing you said 14 hours ago.” (Because that phrase in itself takes up 32 of my 140 characters!)

2. And even if I see it right away, I might want to acknowledge that I saw it without a re-tweet (RT) and without remarking on it.

3. Someone replies to one of my tweets, but it’s several hours before I see it. I just want to acknowledge the fact that they spoke back to me, without rehashing the point.

4. Someone posts a link and I want them to know I liked it, even though it’s not something (for whatever reason) I would RT to my own followers.

In all of the instances above, I just want to be able to acknowledge something someone tweeted without getting into a conversation about it and without making it a “favorite.” (Favoriting a tweet hardly EVER makes sense to me – except maybe when saving links.)

So how about it, Twitter – give us a LIKE button!