Early Wednesday, Twitter announced on its own platform that it was working to develop and release an edit button as a new feature on the service.
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) April 5, 2022
The announcement comes only days after Elon Musk tweeted a poll asking users if they would like to have the option added to the platform. Over 70% of the 4 million respondents said they would like to see the feature added.
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
Twitter’s CEO, Parag Agrawal, quoted Musk’s tweet and advised changes might be in the works. He said the consequences of Musk’s poll “will be important” and advised users to “vote carefully.”
Twitter noted it would be testing the new feature in Twitter Blue, the company’s paid subscription service, in order to “learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible.”
Twitter said said they had been working on the feature since last year.
The platform’s head of consumer products, Jay Sullivan, said the edit feature was the most requested update for the social media platform.
However, Sullivan went on the say that the company was aware the feature “could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation.”
The edit feature has been a long-contested request, often met by dismissive remarks. Former CEO Jack Dorsey said in 2020 that the company would “probably never do it.”
Some reporters have expressed concern about the impact the feature could have upon journalism.
A Twitter edit button would have wild implications, notably for journalism. I'm against it.
— daniel mcmahon (@cyclingreporter) April 5, 2022
Suggestions regarding the implications of an edit option included limiting the time frame a user might be able to edit, marking an edited tweet so others know it’s been modified, and limiting the number of edits on a single post.
Cool! Some suggestions:
1. Have the algorithm “punish” edited tweets
2. Mark them clearly
3. Show full edit history
4. Allow 2 edits max per tweet
5. Make tweets editable only for 1hr
6. Turn off the ability to edit a tweet once it reaches 50 RTs / 10 replies— Amos Zimmerman (@TheRealAmosZ) April 5, 2022
Sullivan said the exploration and testing of the new feature were focused on giving “people more choice and control over their Twitter experience, foster a healthy conversation, and help people be more comfortable on Twitter.”
