Twitter Is Testing an ‘Edit’ Button

Twitter tweeted Tuesday that it’s certainly engaged on a manner for customers to edit their 280-character messages, though it says the undertaking has nothing to do with the truth that edit-function fan Elon Musk was simply revealed as the corporate’s largest shareholder and now sits on its board.

Twitter mentioned it would take a look at the function in its paid service, Twitter Blue, within the coming months. It mentioned the take a look at would assist it “study what works, what doesn’t, and what’s doable.” So it might be some time earlier than most Twitter customers get to make use of it, in the event that they ever do. Twitter spokesperson Catherine Hill declined to say whether or not an edit function may be rolled out for all customers.

Many Twitter customers — amongst them, Kim Kardashian, Ice-T, Katy Perry and McDonald’s company account — have lengthy begged for an edit button. The corporate itself not too long ago teased customers with an April Idiot’s Day tweet saying “we’re engaged on an edit button.” The official Twitter account mentioned Tuesday that the April 1 tweet wasn’t a joke and that it has been engaged on it since final 12 months.

we’re engaged on an edit button

— Twitter (@Twitter) April 1, 2022

Twitter additionally mentioned it didn’t get the thought from a Twitter ballot launched by Tesla CEO Musk Monday night. Musk, himself a Twitter energy consumer, requested followers in the event that they wished an edit button, cheekily misspelling “sure” as “yse” and “no” as “on.” Greater than 4 million folks had voted as of Tuesday night.

Musk additionally tweeted that he’s wanting ahead to creating “vital enhancements to Twitter in coming months!”

Twitter’s vice chairman of shopper product, Jay Sullivan, tweeted Tuesday that an edit perform has for years been Twitter’s most requested new function, noting that individuals wish to repair errors, typos, and “scorching takes.”

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had mentioned that Twitter had thought of an edit button, however in a January 2020 Q&A maintained that “we’ll in all probability by no means do it.” He famous that Twitter’s present setup retains the spirit of its text-message origins — texts can’t be edited — and the confusion that might end result from customers making modifications to a tweet that has already been closely circulated by others. Dorsey stepped down as CEO in November 2021.

Individuals who research Twitter additionally say including an edit button would doubtless change the character of Twitter, making it much less useful as a historic warehouse that shops official statements by politicians and different high-profile folks. Twitter, for higher or worse, “has grow to be the de facto information wire,” mentioned Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse College communications professor and an knowledgeable on social media who researches propaganda.

Tweets are sometimes embedded in information tales, which may trigger issues if the customers edit essential or controversial tweets with out leaving proof of the unique assertion. Grygiel instructed as an alternative giving Twitter customers a window of time to edit their tweets earlier than they publish them.

Letting highly effective Twitter customers edit their tweets means they’d not be historic statements anymore, Grygiel mentioned. “We want to consider what the implications are, what these tweets are, who has energy.”

The corporate acknowledged these considerations Tuesday night when Sullivan tweeted: “With out issues like deadlines, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could possibly be misused to change the file of the general public dialog. Defending the integrity of that public dialog is our prime precedence after we strategy this work.”

Musk, too, had mentioned {that a} proposal for a post-publication edit window of some minutes “ sounds affordable.”

Musk is somebody who may seemingly use an edit button. His tweet about taking Tesla personal at $420 per share, when funding was not secured, led to a $40 million SEC settlement and a requirement that Musk’s tweets be authorized by a company lawyer. Musk remains to be embroiled in a combat over that settlement.

Twitter had earlier appeared to be taking a tongue-in-cheek strategy to Musk’s ballot. Twitter’s CEO, Parag Agrawal, retweeted the ballot with a seeming reference to an earlier tweet by Musk, saying “The results of this ballot can be essential. Please vote fastidiously.” Musk had used the identical language in a March tweet describing one other of his polls that requested whether or not Twitter adheres to free speech ideas.