Twitter will roll out the feature to subscribers of Twitter Blue, who pay $4.99 (Rs 400) per month, to make changes to their existing tweets for up to 30 minutes after publishing. The modified tweets will appear with an icon, timestamp, and label so it is clear that the original has been changed
Twitter has added a feature to edit tweets in the biggest change since the microblogging platform. AP
How many times have you cringed when you have made an error while posting a tweet? Typos in tweets may soon be a thing of the past as Twitter, the microblogging site, has launched the sought-after ‘Edit tweet’ option — allowing users to make changes to their tweets after posting it.
On Thursday, the California-based giant made the announcement of introducing the ‘Edit Tweet’ option, adding that it was testing the feature and tweets would be available to edit a few times in the 30 minutes after posting.
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
Before you go celebrating the news, the ‘Edit Tweet’ is not available to all as of now; only a select few users have access to it.
But how does it work? Who will be able to use it? Here’s everything we know so far about the newly introduced feature.
What is the ‘Edit Tweet’ feature?
Edit Tweet, as the name suggests, is a feature that allows people to make changes to their tweet after it has been published.
The move comes after Jay Sullivan, Twitter’s head of consumer product, had said in April that the company had been working on such a feature since 2021.
The company said in the blog post that the purpose of the ‘Edit Tweet’ feature is to “give people a short period of time to fix things like typos, add missed tags, and more.” However, there’s no restriction to what you can modify in a tweet and what consequences those edits might have.
“With Edit Tweet, we’re hoping to make tweeting easier and more approachable, giving people more choice and control in how they express themselves and how they contribute to the many conversations happening on Twitter,” the company said in a blog post.
The company has had a long complicated history with providing users the option of editing their tweets. In 2016, founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey had said that an option to edit tweets was “def needed.”
not sure why you’re quoting this tweet but yes, a form of edit is def needed. But for everyone, not just those w badges
— jack (@jack) December 29, 2016
Then in 2019, he said that Twitter was considering a tool that could “clarify” tweets, not edit them. And in early 2020, Dorsey said ‘no’ when asked if the company was rolling out an edit button.
How will it work?
Those who are given access to the feature, as of now, will be able to make changes to their tweet within a 30-minute window for a couple of times.
The edited tweet will appear with an icon, timestamp, and label so it is clear that the original tweet has been modified. If people tap the label, they can see the tweet’s history, which includes its past versions.
The company has clearly stated that users won’t be able to make changes to their old posts. You will only be able to edit a tweet up to 30 minutes after it is posted.
So, all of us can edit our tweets?
Currently, the option hasn’t been rolled out to all. The feature will be first rolled out to Twitter Blue users.
At present, Twitter Blue costs $4.99 (Rs 397) per month and is available only in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. This means, users in India will have to wait.
The microblogging website added that it’s introducing this feature to the smaller group of paid users to gather more feedback, including how people could misuse it — so that it can tune the edit button’s functionality accordingly.
“Since this is our most requested feature to date, we want to make sure we get it right,” it said as per a report in TechCrunch.
How have users reacted?
While some are anxiously waiting for the new feature to roll out to the masses, there are some who are concerned and maintain that it might be contrary to the spirit of the platform.
Twitter has long had a superior edit button called “delete” which allows you to remove a bad tweet and repost a better one without anyone being confused about what happened.
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 1, 2022
Another user questioned why the company was bowing down to public pressure.
Why is Twitter bowing to the pressure of giving us an edit button? It will spoil the whole originality and “receipt” uniqueness of the platform.
— Adewale Adetona (@iSlimfit) September 1, 2022
As per experts, some issues need to be weeded out before the roll-out of an edit button. As tweets now are seen as a source of news stories, making them editable might put pressure on the publisher to check whether any changes has been made.
With inputs from agencies
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