Twitter Finally Tests an Edit Button

Twitter is finally testing an edit button, a tool that's confirmed to be the most requested feature for the social app for a while now. As the name of this feature suggests, it'll allow people to edit the contents of their tweets while still keeping a record of what previous versions of the tweet looked like. This "Edit Tweet" button is currently being tested internally which means it won't be visible to actual Twitter users right away, but the test will soon be expanding to more Twitter denizens.

The news of this option to edit tweets was aptly tweeted out by Twitter itself wherein it said "we're testing the edit button." Accompanying that tweet was a blog post on Twitter's site that brought people up to speed on the community desire for an edit button. Twitter said this is the "most requested feature to date," and though it's only being tested internally right now, Twitter Blue subscribers will be the next batch of users to gain access to it. That test will happen in a single country (Twitter hasn't said which one just yet) so that the tool can be observed to see how people use it.

Though the edit button is indeed the most requested feature for Twitter, it's also been one people have been wary of due to potential misuse. Given the prevalence of daily Twitter drama, hot takes, and the frequency at which those such as political figures use Twitter to interact with millions of followers at the push of a button, many have been worried that editing tweets would allow those with malicious intent to literally rewrite their intent or obfuscate what was originally said.

Twitter has enacted some parameters around its test to take those concerns into account and to "help protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said."

"For this test, Tweets will be able to be edited a few times in the 30 minutes following their publication," Twitter said. "Edited Tweets will appear with an icon, timestamp, and label so it's clear to readers that the original Tweet has been modified. Tapping the label will take viewers to the Tweet's Edit History, which includes past versions of the Tweet."

Twitter said the goal with this edit button test is to make the platform more accessible by potentially making the idea of participating in a conversation a less stressful one. More information will be shared via the Twitter Blue account in the coming days, Twitter said.