After many Twitter threads and memes, the micro-blogging company on Thursday finally announced that it is testing the much-awaited Edit Tweet feature.
According to the company blog post, Edit Tweet will be available to some Twitter Blue users later in September, who pay a subscription fee to access the premium feature. At present, Twitter Blue cost $4.99 (Rs 397) per month and is available only in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US.
“The test will be localised to a single country at first and expand as we learn and observe how people use Edit Tweet,” said Twitter.
if you see an edited Tweet it’s because we’re testing the edit buttonthis is happening and you’ll be okay
— Twitter (@Twitter) September 1, 2022
The platform will be paying close attention to how the feature can impact the way people read, write, and engage with tweets.
In April, Jay Sullivan, Twitter’s head of consumer product, said they have been working on Edit Tweet feature since 2021.
At present, Twitter offers an “Undo Tweet” button to Twitter Blue subscribers that gives users a 30-second window to cancel posting.
HOW WILL EDIT TWEET WORK
According to the blog post, those who will get the Edit Tweet feature can edit their tweet within a 30-minute window for a couple of times. They 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 time limit and version history play an important role here, which will help protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said, the post added.
The feature will ensure users can fix their typos, missed tags, etc in their tweets.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE DRAWBACK
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.
There is also a question mark over how regulators will look at an edited tweet when it comes to content that might be in violation of a country’s laws, said a TechCrunch report.
“Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work,” noted Sullivan in April.
He indicated that Twitter will dive into all angles of the edit button, including anything adversarial.
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