Twitter Really Took This Long To Cave And Make An Edit Button
By Alexa Heah, 02 Sep 2022
Could it really be? After more than a decade of pleas from users, it appears Twitter is finally testing an edit button.
“This is only a test,” cautions the headline of the social media site’s surprise blog post.
Despite the warning, it’s no surprise users on the platform have been whipped into a frenzy, with the company confirming for the first time that the feature “is being tested by our team internally.”
Noting that the edit button was its “most requested feature to date,” the firm said the test will be initially expanded to Twitter Blue subscribers in the coming weeks.
.@jack's beard grows longer every time someone asks for the edit button pic.twitter.com/ldc1OghY12
— Jack Appleby âï¸ (@jappleby) January 15, 2020
Though, even if you’re not a paying member, you’ll still be able to see if a tweet has been edited.
What exactly will the edit button entail? As per the blog post, Twitter says the feature, as its name implies, will allow users to make changes to their tweets after they’ve been published.
“Think of it as a short period of time to do things like fix typos, add missed tags, and more,” it explains.
if you see an edited Tweet it's because we're testing the edit button
— Twitter (@Twitter) September 1, 2022
this is happening and you'll be okay
During the test, subscribers will be allowed to edit their tweets several times for 30 minutes after they’ve been published.
To ensure others are aware when a tweet has been edited, the modified tweets will be come with an icon, timestamp, and label signaling the original has been changed.
If you’re thinking that the edit button will prevent others from ever seeing your unfortunate spelling mishaps, there’s some bad news.
The company says that viewers will be able to view the entire tweet’s edit history, including all past versions of the tweet—yes, embarrassing typos included.
“For context, the time limit and version history play an important role here. They help protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said,” Twitter remarks.
Will the highly-anticipated feature work as intended, or will it give way to an even more chaotic social media landscape? We’re keeping our fingers crossed.