Likes and Repost icons

Hello my lovely support!
Tell me please-
I am trying to make the icons for the buttons "Like" and "repost"
I change the code in the files -
/html/com_easysocial/likes/action.php
/html/com_easysocial/repost/action.php

add only <i> now looks like this -

<a href="javascript:void(0);" 

    class="action-btn"

    data-likes-action 

    data-id="<?php echo $uid; ?>" 

    data-type="<?php echo $element; ?>" 

    data-group="<?php echo $group; ?>" 

    data-verb="<?php echo $verb; ?>" 

    data-streamid="<?php echo $streamid; ?>"><i class="material-icons">}</i><?php echo $text; ?></a>

The problem is that when you click on "like" change the text and the icon disappears ..
How to fix it?