Current:Home > InvestTwitter says it's testing an edit button — after years of clamoring from users -Excel Wealth Summit
Twitter says it's testing an edit button — after years of clamoring from users
View
Date:2025-04-16 01:20:11
For years, people have had to delete and repost their typo-ridden or mistagged tweets rather than edit them retroactively — a relative rarity among social media platforms and a bother to many users.
Twitter users have long pushed for the platform to offer an "edit" button, even as top executives and safety officials expressed their doubts. But the pro-edit camp could soon see their wishlist granted, as the company is in the process of testing that functionality.
"If you see an edited Tweet it's because we're testing the edit button," it tweeted on Thursday. "This is happening and you'll be okay."
It's not clear whether, or how many, users will see edited tweets in their feeds. But the platform did share a screenshot of what that feature will look like, with a pen icon and a "last edited" timestamp in the bottom left corner of a tweet.
Twitter explained in a blog post that it is first testing the feature internally with a small group, and plans to roll it out to Twitter Blue subscribers — first localized to a single, unspecified country and then gradually expanded — in the coming weeks.
"Given that this is our most requested feature to date, we wanted to both update you on our progress and give you and a heads up that, even if you're not in a test group, everyone will still be able to see if a Tweet has been edited," it added.
Testers will be able to edit tweets "a few times" in the 30 minutes right after they post. Edited tweets will show the icon, timestamp and label, which any user can click on to see the tweet's full edit history and earlier versions.
The company hopes the time limit and edit history will help "protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said."
Skeptics have long warned that an edit button could cause trouble, given Twitter's role in the public discourse and as a de-facto newswire. As NPR's Shannon Bond has reported, some in tech worry it could exacerbate Twitter's existing safety and misinformation issues, though they say some of those concerns can be mitigated by the way the button is designed.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who stepped down as CEO in November, was opposed to the edit button and famously told The Verge in 2020 that "we'll probably never do it."
But times have changed even since then. Elon Musk polled his followers in April, when he offered to buy Twitter, and found that a vast majority were in favor (Musk has since rescinded his offer, and Twitter is now suing him to compel him to buy the company for $44 billion).
Michael Leggett, a former design lead and manager at Google and Facebook whose self-proclaimed "inattention to typos" has led him to favor an edit button, told Morning Edition in April that while it may sound like a simple feature to launch, it gets at a difficult problem.
"It's better to do it than to not do it, but it's better to not do it than to do it poorly," he added.
Now that Twitter's finally taking the edit button for a test drive, it says it will be collecting feedback and looking out for how people might misuse the feature as well as how it might impact the way people read, write and engage with tweets.
veryGood! (26)
Related
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Pittsburgh synagogue being demolished to build memorial for 11 killed in antisemitic attack
- Guatemala’s new government makes extortion its top security priority
- Foo Fighters, Chris Stapleton will join The Rolling Stones at 2024 New Orleans Jazz Fest
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Many animals seized from troubled Virginia zoo will not be returned, judge rules
- Officials in Martinique rescue two boaters and search for three others after boat capsizes
- Ecuador prosecutor investigating TV studio attack shot dead in his vehicle, attorney general says
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Illinois high court hands lawmakers a rare pension-overhaul victory
Ranking
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- BookWoman in Austin champions queer, feminist works: 'Fighting for a better tomorrow'
- 'Sports Illustrated' lays off most of its staff
- Biden says he is forgiving $5 billion in student debt for another 74,000 Americans
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Salad and spinach kits sold in 7 states recalled over listeria risk
- March for Life 2024: Anti-abortion advocates plan protest in nation's capital
- AP Week in Pictures: Global
Recommendation
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
Former Republican legislative candidate pleads guilty to role in the US Capitol riot
Sri Lanka has arrested tens of thousands in drug raids criticized by UN human rights body
1 dead, at least 6 injured in post-election unrest in the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
AP Week in Pictures: Asia
Police in Jamaica detain former Parliament member in wife’s death
Man gets 65 years in prison for Des Moines school shooting that killed 2 students