- After years of controversy, Twitter is currently testing the long-awaited edit button.
- Edited tweets are now being tested, the company said in a blog post on Thursday, and will eventually be made available to Twitter Blue members.
- The company claims that Twitter Blue subscribers in New Zealand will be the first to get access to the test, with Australia, Canada, and the US following.
- Users outside the test group will also be able to see edited tweets on the platform.
- Twitter said in April that it has been testing an edit button for a year and will soon make it available to Twitter Blue subscribers.
In a tweet posted on Thursday morning, Twitter warned that because it is testing the long-awaited edit button, some users might start seeing altered tweets in their feed.
Twitter edit button is becoming a reality
“This is happening and you’ll be okay,” the company said.
if you see an edited Tweet it's because we're testing the edit button
this is happening and you'll be okay
— Twitter (@Twitter) September 1, 2022
The business announced in a blog post on Thursday that edited tweets are now being tested internally and will eventually be available to Twitter Blue subscribers. According to the firm, the test will first be made available to Twitter Blue subscribers in New Zealand, with Australia, Canada, and the US following. On the platform, modified tweets will also be visible to users outside the test group.
In April, Twitter announced that it has been testing an edit tool for a year and that Twitter Blue subscribers would have access to it soon. The news was made on the same day that the firm said Elon Musk would join its board of directors and after he asked his followers if they wanted an edit button on the platform. No, we didn’t receive the idea from a survey, Twitter added as it revealed the edit function was in development.
Later, Musk backed out of the board seat offer, agreed to buy Twitter fully, moved to end the acquisition agreement, and is currently defending himself against a lawsuit from Twitter that aims to force him to complete the acquisition.
Although many users have been requesting for years that Twitter include an edit button, which competitors like Facebook and Instagram already have, others have expressed worries regarding the possible repercussions of such a tool. Safety experts posed the following hypothetical scenario, for instance: What if an innocent tweet that went viral was later changed to contain harassment or false information, expanding the reach of a tweet that might not have otherwise spread?
In this test, tweets will be able to be updated “a few times” for up to 30 minutes after they are initially posted, Twitter stated in a blog post on Thursday. In order to indicate that a tweet has been edited, it will display an icon, a label, and a timestamp. Users can click through to a tweet’s “edit history” to view previous iterations.
“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,” said the company.
“Like any new feature, we’re intentionally testing the edit button with a smaller group to help us incorporate feedback while identifying and resolving potential issues. This includes how people might misuse the feature.”
