Bye, typos and bad grammar: Twitter is finally launching an edit button
Twitter users may soon kiss those typos, bad grammar, and autocorrect blunders goodbye, as the platform is finally launching the much-coveted edit button.
"It’s true: Edit Tweet is being tested by our team internally," Twitter said in a blog post Sept. 1, when it also teased in a supposed edited tweet the upcoming feature.
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
Hundreds of millions of users have clamored for an edit button for years, even as early as the platform's inception in 2006.
looking for an edit button. Not finding an edit button. Giving up on the edit button idea
— Kirk Peterson (@BigA) November 10, 2006
wishing Twitter had an edit feature for recent posts so I could edit a post where I said the bed was 'poorky'
— Kitta (@Kitta) November 10, 2006
The company, however, argued that it originally started as an SMS (short messaging service), and intends to preserve "that feeling in the early days" of sending a text one cannot take back.
It also expressed concerns over "benign" messages getting edited and becoming misleading, especially when they've already been retweeted a lot.
The most significant feature Twitter introduced was in 2017, when it increased the 140 character limit to 280.
But after 16 years, Twitter appears to have come around.
After internal testing, Twitter said Edit Tweet access will be expanded to users of its subscription service Twitter Blue "later this month." Eventually, though unspecified, all users will be able to use the feature.
Amid the threat of disinformation, Twitter placed safeguards.
Users may only edit tweets 30 minutes following the publication. There will be an icon, timestamp, and label so it’s clear to readers that the original tweet has been modified. Tapping the label will let users see the edit history.
"We’re hoping that, with the availability of Edit Tweet, Tweeting will feel more approachable and less stressful," Twitter said. "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."