Twitter Adds "Edit Tweet" Button: What It Means For You

Twitter has added a feature to edit tweets in the biggest change since the microblogging platform got widely accepted as a platform for sharing information, even by governments.The edit button will be rolled out for the Twitter Blue subscribers in the coming weeks, the social media platform announced.

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

Until now, content once tweeted cannot be edited. It had to be tweeted again to reflect changes.

How Will It Work?

The edit button will allow users to make changes to existing tweets for up to 30 minutes after publishing.

The published tweet will carry identifiers like a label, timestamp, and icon denoting that the tweet has been edited. Twitter users will also be able to click the tweet and see all the changes made to the original content.

Twitter is estimated to have over 320 million active users, and many have been asking the platform to add a feature which would allow them to edit posts once they have been published. Twitter had long refused to do so, despite repeated requests from users.

Concern Over The Feature

In an interview with Wired in 2020, the then Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had said the company would "probably never" add the "edit tweet" feature as it could aid in the spread of misinformation.

Some tech experts have warned that an "edit tweet" button could be used to change statements after others have retweeted or endorsed them.

The edit button joins Twitter Blue's other related feature, the undo button, that lets users cancel sending a tweet for up to 30 seconds after hitting the send button.