Twitter Adds Edit Button, Everybody Freaks Out

Screenshots of a Twitter test version of a new “edit button” feature are circulating online, causing both lovers and haters of the platform to feel a wide variety of feelings.

The company addressed the unease and excitement experienced by the very-online Thursday morning in a blog post describing the new feature, which was previously teased in April.

if you see an edited Tweet it's because we're testing the edit button

this is happening and you'll be okay

— Twitter (@Twitter) September 1, 2022

The edit button is only rolling out right now to a small group of users. Twitter expects to look at what happens, including any negative consequences or misuse of the new feature, and then do a wider rollout towards the end of the month for Twitter Blue subscribers.

the edit button will be perfect for all the times we type root bear instead of root beer https://t.co/kB9UcTlJBM pic.twitter.com/1KSLpJJpls

— A&W Restaurants (@awrestaurants) September 1, 2022

Bringing in an edit button would deny us glorious tweets like these pic.twitter.com/jd2jRLMmBP

— Tits McGee (@Scientits) September 1, 2022

The edit button will allow users to change tweets a few times in the 30 minutes after they are posted. It will show receipts of when changes are made, similar to Reddit's edit function, and you can tap the tweet to see its entire edit history. Twitter hopes this recordkeeping will “protect the integrity of the conversation.”

More details on the Twitter edit button

- Tweets can be edited "a few times" during a 30min window
- Edited tweets will be marked as such with a timestamp, icon & label
- The label includes a complete edit history of the tweet
- feature being tested rnhttps://t.co/dLACq0p4ZY pic.twitter.com/aUwuN9YjNU

— Nibel (@Nibellion) September 1, 2022

According to early reactions, some of those who use the app, however, are on it precisely because Twitter conversations do not have integrity. Such Twitter users were upset about the new feature and posted memes and tweets about their emotions as the news spread.

This sends the exact wrong message. There is no edit button on the football field https://t.co/UbEWPHyly3

— Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman) September 1, 2022

You know what didnt have a edit button? The Bible. Got it right the first time gang

— PFT Commander (@PFTCommenter) September 1, 2022

Short story of #twitter testing edit button pic.twitter.com/PAB032nz89

— Fablord (@fablord) September 1, 2022

Others were bothered by the idea that the edit button will only be available to Twitter Blue users, meaning to access it and other new bells and whistles, you have to pay $4.99 a month. It’s a new approach for Twitter and for social media in general, which has typically relied on revenue from advertisers (and, thus, on tracking user data and packaging it for advertisers) in the past.

Don’t get too excited about the edit button because it’s gonna be $4.99 per month https://t.co/OWFr2ldH8u pic.twitter.com/ghAJpAF0wU

— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) September 1, 2022

A number of posters also raised bigger-picture concerns, such as how the edit button could impact the behavior of trolls or extremists on Twitter. Someone imagined the nightmare scenario of a viral tweet being edited to propose a racist belief and to make it seem like many endorsed that belief. A lot of people get their news and information from Twitter, so a change to the way Twitter works could be significant.

Like all of Twitter’s features, this will be mostly cool but will have all sorts of unintended consequences. https://t.co/OLUsu3wPyx

— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) September 1, 2022

Unless twitter massively upscales the PEOPLE side of abuse and moderation, the edit button will cause FAR more problems than it solves.

What is Twitter going to do when a tweet describes me as "ducking bigger"?

The "you" who will be ok, is brands, not people. https://t.co/W64Da2GCLz

— Carl Anka (@Ankaman616) September 1, 2022

The twitter edit button is a bad idea, people are going to edit viral tweets to say something else to artificially fake support behind bad ideas.

— ██████ ████ (@HarrisonKrank) September 1, 2022

Despite some doubts, a few also argued that the edit button, with the built-in context of receipts, would not change Twitter very much.

We’re finally getting an edit button but it timestamps when you edited it so this ain’t gonna save you from cancel culture lol https://t.co/UzrMQc4jD0

— Pariss Athena | Founder of Black Tech Pipeline (@ParissAthena) September 1, 2022

As often happens, some attempted to steer the discourse to a more important topic.

the wildest thing about twitter finally having an edit button is that Ginni Thomas conspired to overturn an election and it was a one-day story. what in actual chicken-fried fuck

— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) September 1, 2022

However the edit button lands, it represents a gamble from Twitter. The platform is looking to change, adapt and evolve. Twitter is going full steam ahead despite recent negative headlines like Elon Musk's attempted purchase to the Twitter's former chief of security saying the company is full of foreign spies, too cozy with authoritarian governments and extremely vulnerable to hackers.