Finally, it’s finally happened. We can’t quite believe it, so hopefully you’re sitting down to read this. It’s quite exciting. It might just knock you off your feet… Ok, so we’re being dramatic but seriously, this is what we’ve all been asking for since like forever… Twitter are launching an edit option for tweets. Now, you’ll be able to fix that typo or update any information without having to delete your entire tweet.
Twitter adding an edit button
There you have it, written in black and white. Twitter has officially confirmed they will be adding the feature we’ve all been asking for since the dawn of time. Thankfully, they confirmed it after the 1st April, otherwise we’d all be left disappointed yet again. But, Twitter have said they will be adding an edit button. Why it’s taken so long, nobody will ever know?
Twitter users have been asking forever for the option to edit their tweets once they’ve been posted. So, many times you’ll notice an innocent typo after your tweet has gone live. Depending on your following this can be quite damaging. If your tweet has already gained lots of attraction, you don’t want to have to delete it and start again. Perhaps this tweet was your break through, and you’ve gone viral. You’re not likely to want to remove it.
However, if you’ve uploaded the wrong information or made an awkward typo, you don’t really want this to be on the platform. This is why so many have asked for an edit option. Especially since Twitter is known for being almost a digital diary. People tweet without really proofreading half the time. It’s not quite like Facebook or Instagram where people carefully re-read their statements. On Twitter anything goes.
Why haven’t Twitter added this before now?
“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,” he said. “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. We will approach this feature with care and thoughtfulness and we will share updates as we go.”
Twitter
Their reasoning behind not putting the edit function in place before now is still valid. They did not want people who tweet really controversial things to not be held accountable. Being able to tweet out of line comments and then go back and edit them as if nothing had happened could be very damaging. However, Facebook have allowed editing for some time. Their feature allows everyone to know the comment has been altered, and they can even click into it and see the original if they want. This is a brilliant idea because then no one would be able to hide behind the truth.
It’s unsure yet when the new feature will be rolled out. Twitter will be sharing it to Twitter Blue subscribers first. Then perhaps it will make its way further and regular users will be able to access this. However, for now we are unsure when we’ll see it. It’s great to know it’s in the works though. After all, it’s about time, right?
