A Twitter edit button is on the way and you already know that. But what took it so long? Will it help at all? It’s coming a little too late, so let’s not argle-bargle.
The wait....
Twitter has been around for a little over 15 years and users have always demanded an edit button. If we can edit text on Facebook, then why not on Twitter, many have asked. Fair enough. The basic idea of Twitter has remained the same — you have a thought, key it in and hit ‘tweet’; it’s out there and forever unless you decide to delete the tweet. The only major thing that has changed about Twitter is when it extended the character limit from 140 to 280 in 2017.
The rationale behind not allowing an edit button is simple — it compromises the integrity of the online conversation. Politicians and businessmen use the platform and their announcements and opinions get retweeted, giving birth to a complex network of conversations. If one were to change the context of the original tweet with an edit, conversations will fall apart. Earlier, Twitter believed that the credibility of a news source could be lost with an edit.
What has changed?
An edited tweet will come with a label that will allow users to click on and see the history of the tweet and its changes. The other limitation is that tweets can only be edited during the first 30 minutes after they are posted.
Some accessibility advocates have also called for Twitter to give users the ability to add text descriptions of images — known as “alt text” — to tweets after they’ve been posted. According to The Washington Post: “That will be possible in the edit feature the company is testing, though users will have to remove and re-upload the image to the tweet to add the alt text.... The edit feature will allow users to add or change images and videos attached to a tweet, in addition to the text.”
Will you have access to the feature?
The social media company announced that employees internally are testing the ability to edit a tweet shortly after it’s posted. The feature will expand later this month to subscribers of Twitter’s premium service, called Twitter Blue, first in New Zealand and then in Australia, Canada, and the United States. But there is no word as to when every Twitter account holder would be able to use the feature.
By limiting the feature to paying subscribers or Twitter Blue will help the platform shrink the pool of users who are likely to use the feature maliciously. At the same time, it’s debatable whether using paying subscribers to test the feature is really equivalent to handing it over to the platform’s most toxic user base, pointed out MIT Technology Review.
An edited tweet.
Picture: TwitterIs it a mistake?
When we say mistake, we mean is it a mistake on Twitter’s part to allow the feature. Here’s an example: A person tweets that Mr X and Miss Y — both actors — are dating, which obviously snowballs into a conversation within five minutes and 10 minutes later the author of the tweet changes the matter to: “Bitcoins are doing great and Mr X and Miss Y have bought bitcoins worth $50m.” The two conversations have no connection but will Twitter allow such a big change in statement? And will people get around to reading the “edited” label? Some are saying 30 minutes is too long a window. If the edit button is meant for fixing typos, it can be restricted to, say, five minutes.
Jack Dorsey, the co-founder who was the CEO until he stepped down in November 2021, said Twitter considered the feature earlier but wouldn’t build the feature because there are consequences, a sentiment echoed by his executives. Soon after Dorsey left, everything changed under the new management.
Let’s thank Elon Musk in a way
Twitter confirmed earlier this year that it has been working on an edit button after Elon Musk tweeted a poll asking if people wanted the feature. More than 73 per cent of respondents said yes. And then, of course, Musk decided to make the move of buying out the company but now wants to back out of the deal.
Will it help make Twitter popular?
Twitter will remain a source of news. But the move can surely take the conversation away from the tussle it is experiencing with Elon Musk, who earlier this year made an offer of $44b to acquire the company but since then has turned around and is trying to wiggle out of the deal, pleading that Twitter did not disclose full data about its users (and specifically bots).
Features that may make a difference
The feature we would like to see is scheduling tweets right from the platform and not using something like Tweetdeck. Second, the ability to tweet videos, photos and Gifs in the same message. Rumour is that Twitter is working on the feature and if it is true, things will get interesting.
