Twitter brings the "Edit Button
Twitter wants to enable corrections after the publication of a tweet. However, the exact functionality and release date of the "Edit Button" are still unclear. Is this related to the new majority shareholder Elon Musk?
Twitter is working on a redaction function for published tweets. This was announced by the short message service's communications team in a tweet. This means that Twitter users may soon be able to make spelling mistakes or other corrections to tweets that have already been published.
The news of the new feature came just hours after it was announced that Elon Musk would be getting a seat on the tech company's board of directors. The billionaire had secured a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter in mid-March - making himself Twitter's majority shareholder.
After announcing the share purchase, Musk immediately put out a tweet asking the Twitter community if they wanted an edit button. The non-representative poll currently counts 73 percent yes votes.
However, the idea for the new edit function did not come from this Twitter poll, the communications team emphasizes. They have already been working on it since last year. Since the early days of the social media platform, parts of the Twitter community have repeatedly called for this function.
First tests on Twitter Blue
The redaction function is to be rolled out first on the Twitter Blue paid service in the coming months. Twitter Blue offers subscribers additional features and viewing options that normal Twitter users don't have access to. However, the service is currently only available in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
When testing on Twitter Blue, the company said it wanted to investigate "what works, what doesn't work and what is possible." It is therefore not yet clear exactly how the Edit button will work or when it will be available to the normal Twitter community.
Dorsey was against it
Jack Dorsey, the former CEO and co-founder of Twitter, spoke out against an Edit Button. In 2020, he even said in a video interview with Wired magazine that the feature would probably never come to the platform. He feared that statements of tweets could be subsequently turned in a different direction or distorted by the edit button.
Dorsey stepped down as CEO of the tech company last November. A different wind now seems to be blowing with the company's new boss and former CTO Parag Agarwal.
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