Twitter is finally adding support for a feature that has been requested by users for several years — the ability to edit tweets. The company announced on Thursday that it will roll out the much-awaited edit button to select Twitter Blue subscribers over the coming weeks. The feature will allow users to make changes to tweets for up to half an hour after they are posted, and an edited tweet will display indicators to reveal that the tweet has been edited. Users will also be able to see the original tweet, along with subsequent changes, according to the company.
According to the microblogging service, the edit button is currently being tested internally and will be rolled out to Twitter Blue users over the coming weeks. The company says that the feature will be tested in a single country before it is expanded to other regions. Twitter Blue is the company’s premium subscription service that provides users with additional functionality and access to upcoming features before other users.
A sample of Twitter’s upcoming edit button that will roll out to users in the coming weeks
Photo Credit: Twitter
As previously mentioned, the edit button will allow users to make changes to their tweets within a 30-minute period. The brief window will allow users to quickly fix typos or add missing hashtags, according to Twitter.
Edited tweets will be clearly marked with an icon, a timestamp, and a label, according to Twitter. When a user taps the label, they will be shown the tweet’s edit history, which includes past changes and the original tweet. The company says the version history and 30-minute window to edit tweets is important to protect the integrity of conversations and maintain a public record of statements on the platform.
Twitter users have been asking the company for the ability to edit tweets for years, and the company revealed in April that it was planning to add support for an edit button. The service says that it is intentionally testing the feature with a smaller group of people to better understand how the feature could be misused and resolve potential issues.
“We’ll also be paying close attention to how the feature impacts the way people read, write, and engage with Tweets,” the company said.
The edit button joins Twitter Blue’s other related feature, the ‘undo’ button that lets users cancel sending a tweet up to thirty seconds after hitting the send button.
Twitter Blue is the platform’s premium subscription service available in select markets like the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Adding an edit button should serve as a much-needed boost to the subscription service amidst declining share prices and profitability.
In April, Twitter reached an agreement to be acquired for $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,50,200 crore) by billionaire Elon Musk, who attempted to walk away from the deal in July alleging that he was misled regarding the number of fake or spam users on the platform. Musk has also cited claims of lax security measures by a whistleblower and the company’s former security chief, ahead of his upcoming legal battle with Twitter next month.
Meanwhile, Twitter users in India may have to wait for a while before they gain access to the edit button. Twitter has still not announced any plans to launch the subscription service in India, and it remains to be seen if the edit button will get a wider platform-wide rollout.