There’s probably no more requested Twitter feature than an edit button.
For years, users as disparate as Kim Kardashian at McDonald’s asked for the ability to edit their tweets later. Now, the tech giant has confirmed that this feature may be coming soon, but is it really a good idea?
The first signs appeared at the beginning of the month, when the the company claimed it was working on it. Obviously, it was April Fool’s Day, so everyone assumed the platform was joking.
Then we learned that Tesla founder and controversial billionaire Elon Musk had joined Twitter’s board as the largest shareholder, holding a 9.2% stake in the platform.
Next, posted a poll (with some ironic misspellings of the “yes” and “no”) asking if users wanted an edit button. Afterwards, Twitter showed us a first look at the feature, which is already in development.
1/ We have been exploring how to build a safe editing feature since last year and plan to start testing it in @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months. Let’s share some more ideas on how we think about Edit 🧵 https://t.co/WbcfkUue8e
— Jay Sullivan (@jaysullivan)
April 5, 2022
Twitter’s head of consumer products Jay Sullivan said the edit button will let you fix typos, broken links and embarrassing errors, as well as remove “those burning things”.
While it’s a relief for social media professionals, an editing feature could have a much bigger impact than just fixing embarrassing mistakes.
Matt Levine, of Bloombergpoints out that the the trolls they could post an innocuous tweet about puppies, then drastically turn it into something extremely offensive, which in turn could affect the careers of anyone who likes or retweets it.
.@matt_levineThe take on the edit button is the only thing you need to read: https://t.co/HoDbUvuO0h https://t.co/6s7G3qGWkQ pic.twitter.com/G3BAsjvYCv
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion)
April 5, 2022
The same could be said for editing the content of a tweet or editing a tweet that has gone viral to become self-promotional. Not to mention tweets embedded in articles (as in our case), which could be edited to cause problems for media around the world.
It’s even more worrying when you think about the the Pirates: Anyone could break into someone’s Twitter account and start chaos by altering information already shared by government leaders, organizations, big corporations, etc.
Twitter came under fire in 2018 after an MIT study showed that misinformation spreads faster on the platform than actual news.
After the 2020 election and the coronavirus outbreak, Twitter introduced features to flag misinformation, but the platform remains notorious for allowing extremist views and dangerous conversations to flourish online, especially after the pandemic. Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The downsides aren’t quite as dramatic or political: the edit button could also remove some of the most iconic and memorable moments the platform is known for.
There would be no more moments like Covfefe, the famous tweet by Ed Ballsor that of the Boston Globe, publishing an unfortunate misspelling about the FBI (“investifarted” instead of “investigated”, i.e. something like “peer” instead of “investigated”):
Ed Reinhold of the FBI says the FBI has already investigated about 70 leads. Live video: http://t.co/nXuiv3rwFm
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe)
July 17, 2015
Jack Dorsey himself, founder and former CEO of Twitter, went so far as to explain the possible problems that adding an edit button would have during an interview with Wired in 2020, before the pandemic:
Even then, Dorsey was sure the social network would never implement an edit button. Now that he’s gone and Musk is (in some way) involved on the board, things have changed.
Some might argue that users will still be able to take screenshots of tweets before they’re edited, just like many posts before they’re deleted. However, we cannot take for granted that this will happen with every tweet posted.
Currently, Twitter has its own charm, which is also somewhat frustrating. If you post a typo or quickly delete the tweet and repost it (perhaps alluding to the deleted tweet to ask followers to close their eyes if they’ve read the original), you have two options: live with the consequences and accept it. .like a mythical tweet with errors.
Not being disclosed isn’t just part of Twitter’s charm: it can also hold people accountable in an age of misinformation. If you remove this, the site will start to blend in with the rest of the social world.
Still, if Twitter is determined to introduce an edit button (and is working on how to introduce it safely), there are a few things that could be done to help reduce the risk of drastic edits:
Mention that the tweet has been edited
This is something we see in instant messaging services like Slack and Discord. Although the content of the original tweet is not visible, people would at least know that it has been edited, which could alert users to suspicious behavior.
Show original tweet in hidden panel
Although the new tweet appears as the main post, a comment could be included just below or in the settings that link back to the original post. Facebook has this feature on its platform.
Restrict changes to soon after
This is basically the “Undo” function which is already available in Blue Twitter, the social network’s payment service. While I can only speak for myself, I often spot typos almost immediately after posting. This feature gives users 60 seconds to make amends before it’s too late.
Allow modification of a certain number of characters only
Changing a tweet entirely can be concerning, but if Twitter only allowed room for typos and misspellings, there would be less chance of this feature being abused. If people don’t have enough space to make the changes they want, they’ll have to delete the post and rewrite it.
Make the edit button available under checkout, or limit who can access it
While I am in favor of platforms being as accessible as possible, putting this feature on professional/verified accounts, or making it sufficiently prime as for a troll nobody pays for it, it would deter people from using it for harm. A bit like “Cancel” limited to blue customers.
Original article published on TechAdvisor.com.
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