Twitter pays tribute to Beyonce’s 'Black is King' by turning the like button into two lions

The limited-time feature is a nod to the singer's much-anticipated visual album

Beyonce in a scene from her visual album 'Black is King,' which was released on Friday, July 31, on Disney Plus. AP

Twitter users who logged on to shower praise on Beyonce's highly anticipated film and visual album, Black is King, released on July 31, are in for yet another treat.

Fans who tweeted in the past two days using the hashtag #BlackIsKing found that the like button on the social media platform was transformed into an image of two lions forming a circle – the same picture used on the cover of Beyonce's 2019 soundtrack album, The Lion King: The Gift. The feature is clearly a nod to the new release being billed as a visual companion to that album, inspired by Disney's live-action remake of the classic film, in which Beyonce voices Nala.

Twitter users were more than a little impressed with this fun new feature, taking it as further proof that there’s little Beyonce can’t do.

In the past, Twitter has created custom hashtags that are paired with a graphic when used, but this is a first-of-its-kind feature.

Twitter has said it is a new function that is still being experimented with. "Because we know that some of the best moments deserve a little spark and delight, we are testing a product that lets partners customise Twitter's like button animation with iconic imagery that complements their campaign," a representative told women's lifestyle website Refinery29.

However, it looks like the feature was designed only to run for a short period of time, as it no longer seems to be available online.

Lion logo or not, there are still plenty of reasons to go give #BlackIsKing tweets a “like”.

The newly released video runs for an hour and 25 minutes and tells the story of a young African king who is cast out from his family and must navigate his own path as he embarks on a journey that takes him through "betrayal, love and self-identity".

It is a celebration of black culture and Beyonce called it a "labour of love" in an Instagram post.

"We are all in search of safety and light. Many of us want change. I believe that when black people tell our own stories, we can shift the axis of the world and tell our real history of generational wealth and richness of soul that are not told in our history books.

"With this visual album, I wanted to present elements of black history and African tradition with a modern twist and a universal message, and what it truly means to find your self-identity and build a legacy."

The cinematic album was produced over the course of a year and features Beyonce's children and husband, Jay-Z, as well as a diverse cast who are from the locations where it was shot, including New York, South Africa, West Africa, London and Belgium.