Finally, Twitter starts testing much-in-demand edit button

Representative image (Source: Reuters)

It has been in demand for the longest time and now it is coming. Twitter users will soon be able to edit their tweets, with the micro-blogging platform on September 1 announcing that its team was testing the feature internally.

The feature will be rolled out to the subscribers of its paid service Twitter Blue in the coming weeks. At present, Twitter Blue is available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The edit tweet feature will enable users to make changes such as fix typos or add missing tags to their tweets for a brief period after posting them.

Picture of an edited tweet (Image source: Twitter)

Twitter said it was intentionally testing it among a smaller group to identify and resolve potential issues, including how people might misuse the feature, ahead of a possible broader rollout.

"We'll also be paying close attention to how the feature impacts the way people read, write, and engage with Tweets," it said in a statement.

Everyone would be able to see if a tweet has been edited, the popular social media platform said.

Long-awaited feature

Twitter didn’t allow editing of tweets, despite being a long-requested feature, with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey saying it may lead to potential misinterpretation of users' opinions.

Dorsey stepped down as the chief executive officer in November 2021, with Parag Agrawal taking over as the CEO.

However, several platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, allow users to edit their posts.

Last year, the social media firm allowed users to set a customisable timer of up to 30 seconds to undo a tweet but the feature was limited to Twitter Blue subscribers.

In April 2022, Twitter announced that it was working on a way to edit tweets for over a year and would start testing it.

"Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation," Jay Sullivan, general manager of Consumer and Revenue Product at Twitter had said at the time.

"Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work. Therefore, it will take time and we will be actively seeking input and adversarial thinking in advance of launching Edit," he said.

How will it work?

For this test, Twitter said users will be able to edit the tweet a few times for 30 minutes after it has been posted.

The edited tweets will appear with a distinct icon, a timestamp of when it was last edited and a label to indicate that the tweet has been modified.

People can tap on the label to view the edit history, including the past versions.

The company said these measures would help "protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said".

"We're hoping that, with the availability of Edit Tweet, Tweeting will feel more approachable and less stressful. You should be able to participate in the conversation in a way that makes sense to you, and we’ll keep working on ways that make it feel effortless to do just that," Twitter said.