diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index 1b3cfd61c..c0e1c9866 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ module ApplicationHelper
     message = process_vimeo(message, options[:vimeo_maps])
     message = process_autolinks(message)
     message = process_emphasis(message)
+    message.gsub!(/<3/, "♥")
 
     if options[:newlines]
       message.gsub!(/\n+/, '<br />')
@@ -178,6 +179,7 @@ module ApplicationHelper
     return message
   end
 
+
   def process_links(message)
     message.gsub!(/\[([^\[]+)\]\(([^ ]+) \&quot;(([^&]|(&[^q])|(&q[^u])|(&qu[^o])|(&quo[^t])|(&quot[^;]))+)\&quot;\)/) do |m|
       escape = "\\"
@@ -266,6 +268,11 @@ module ApplicationHelper
     return processed_message
   end
 
+  def process_hearts(message)
+    Rails.logger.info message
+    message
+  end
+
   def info_text(text)
     image_tag 'icons/monotone_question.png', :class => 'what_is_this', :title => text
   end
diff --git a/spec/helpers/application_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/application_helper_spec.rb
index 9b339d2bc..8191b2228 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/application_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/application_helper_spec.rb
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ describe ApplicationHelper do
         markdownify(proto+"://"+url).should == "<a target=\"_blank\" href=\""+proto+"://"+url+"\">"+url+"</a>"
       end
 
+
+
       describe "video links" do
         it "recognizes vimeo links" do
           video_id = "17449557"
@@ -147,6 +149,13 @@ describe ApplicationHelper do
       end
     end
 
+    describe "hearts" do
+      it "replaces &lt;3 with &hearts;" do
+        message = "i <3 you"
+        markdownify(message).should == "i &hearts; you"
+      end
+    end
+
     describe "weak emphasis" do
       it "should be recognized (1/2)" do
         message = "*some text* some text *some text* some text"