What you need to know
- Twitter has revealed that it is currently testing an edit button with a small group of users.
- The in-demand feature will roll out to Twitter Blue subscribers later this month.
- Despite the limited testing, anyone can see if a tweet has been modified.
Twitter is finally rolling out an edit button after years of shunning a much-requested feature that’s long been available on other platforms, and it’ll come first for paying Twitter Blue subscribers.
in a unexpected announcement (opens in new tab), Twitter has confirmed that the tweet editing feature is currently being tested internally by a small group of users. Later this month, the capability will be available to premium users who have the privilege of early access to limited features.
The purpose of the first tests is to gauge how people can abuse the feature. Twitter hopes to achieve the same with the upcoming release of the Blue subscriber feature before it is presumably available to everyone.
“Like any new feature, we’re purposely testing Tweet Editing with a smaller group to help us process feedback and identify and resolve potential issues,” Twitter wrote in a blog post.
However, the test will initially be limited to one country, with plans to expand in the future. Twitter didn’t specify which country will get it first. “We will also pay close attention to how the feature affects how people read, write and use Tweets,” the service added.
Although limited in nature, anyone can see if a tweet has been modified. Editable tweets, however, have time limits. Twitter notes that tweets can only be edited multiple times in the first 30 minutes after they are posted, so you need to act quickly.
Twitter explains that the time limit and version history are intended to “protect the integrity of the conversation and make a publicly accessible record of what was said.”
Edited tweets are easy to spot as they have a pencil icon and a timestamp for when they were last edited, similar to Facebook’s style. Readers can view the edit history of a tweet, including previous versions, by tapping the label.
News of the feature first surfaced last spring, though it was quickly dismissed as an April 1 joke until Twitter confirmed it was real. It’s encouraging to see the social media platform finally giving users what they’ve long been asking for: a way to correct typos without deleting the tweet and starting over. That is, if they don’t mind paying $4.99 a month.