Twitter is working on an edit button

Twitter confirmed that it is developing an edit button so users can change tweets after they have been posted. No, this is not an April Fools joke.

we are working on an edit button

— Twitter (@Twitter) April 1, 2022

This decision will make many Twitter users happy as they have been calling for an edit button for a long time, but there are concerns about how to execute it. Twitter said it would start testing the idea in the coming months.

This news follows from new Twitter board member and Tesla CEO Elon Musk asking his followers if they wanted the feature in a Twitter poll.

Twitter says it was already working on an edit button before Elon Musk was appointed to its board.

The social media firm’s communications team tweeted: “Now that everyone is asking… yes, we’ve been working on an edit feature since last year!

“No, we didn’t get the idea from a poll 😉,” it added.

“We’re kicking off testing within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible.”

1/ We’ve been exploring how to build an Edit feature in a safe manner since last year and plan to begin testing it within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months. Sharing a few more insights on how we’re thinking about Edit 🧵 https://t.co/WbcfkUue8e

— Jay Sullivan (@jaysullivan) April 5, 2022

With Twitter Blue, the platform’s subscription service, users get early access to features it is testing.

Under an edit function, users could be able to fix typos or errors in a tweet without losing any replies, retweets or likes it has already gained.

Jay Sullivan, the company’s vice president of consumer product, said it had been “the most requested Twitter feature for many years” in a thread on Tuesday.

However, he said the company was exploring how to build the feature “safely”.

“Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation,” he said. “Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work.”

During a talk in 2018, former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey said the firm would “probably never” add the feature amid concerns about transparency.

However, Facebook and Instagram already allow users to edit their posts, and Twitter’s new boss Parag Agrawal seems open to the idea.