Twitter considers introducing edit button after Elon Musk polls followers

Twitter has announced that it is working on an edit button that would allow users to change tweets after they have been posted.

Users have called for an edit button, but there are concerns about how to execute it. It is one of the most requested changes to the social networking service.

To fix a typo in a tweet currently, users have to delete it and resend the tweet, which can limit the number of people who see it.

This development is coming on the heels of Twitter confirming that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will join the company’s board of directors.

On Monday, Musk acquired a 9.2 per cent stake in Twitter which was revealed via a regulatory filing, and he also tweeted a poll to his followers asking if Twitter should add an edit button.

Jay Sullivan, Twitter’s vice president of consumer products in a tweet, said the feature had been in the works for years.

“Edit has been the most requested Twitter feature for many years. People want to be able to fix (sometimes embarrassing) mistakes, typos and hot take at the moment,” he tweeted.

In 2020, Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey said the company would never add an edit button to its service.

At the announcement, Sullivan highlighted the edit button’s potential to increase the amount of misleading content on Twitter.

Subscribers to Twitter Blue, a $3 per month subscription, currently have access to a feature that gives users a few seconds to correct a tweet before it’s made public.

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 😉

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

— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) April 5, 2022

Twitter said it would start testing the idea in the coming months.

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

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram already allow users to edit their posts, and Twitter’s new boss Parag Agrawal appears open to the idea.

Elon Musk had started a poll on Monday after disclosing that he owned a 9.2 per cent stake in Twitter, which made him the firm’s biggest shareholder.

Twitter shares finished up more than 2 per cent, making it one of the best-performing tech stocks. This move caps a 27 per cent increase on Monday after Musk’s share purchase was announced.