After years of public request, Twitter is finally adopting an edit button for tweets, allowing users to fix typos and errors they have made before pushing post. However, years of demand for the feature have been laced with equal concern over what it could mean for Twitter and online authenticity.
Twitter was launched in early 2006, and in part thanks to its inability to be easily edited, has turned into an archive of internet history of the early 21st century. The random thoughts of celebrities, news and online debates are all up there, able to be accessed via a deep dive down the social media rabbit hole.
While the edit function is set to serve as a method of error correction, there are concerns that the introduction of the feature may allow users to rewrite the context of what they have said online, changing things that may have been controversial or socially incriminating to make those who responded look like the bad guy.
Its worth nothing that other social media platforms like Facebook already allow their users to edit posts on the fly. While usually, this feature is used for its indented purpose majority of the time, rewriting online history does occur.
This comes just as Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, purchased a 9.2% share in the company, and joining the Twitter board. Within hours of his purchase, Musk asked users if they would want an edit button, and a Twitter announcement soon followed. Twitter claims to have been working on the feature for months, however the lineup with Musk’s arrival does seem suspect.
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
Musk is a serial user of the social media platform, almost directly sending his stream of consciousness directly to his followers via tweet on a regular basis. Having someone so influential who posts so often change their records is a somewhat frightening aspect.
However, Twitter’s Head of Consumer Product Jay Sullivan emphasizes that the integrity of Twitter’s authenticity is paramount, and that they are looking for ways to prevent the rewriting of online history.
“Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation. Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work.”
This is likely to come in the form of time limits, where influencers and those with massive followings are given short time limits to edit their posts, while those without may get slightly longer. However, it’s thankfully unlikely that a user will be able to go back a decade and change something they wrote.
As for Elon Musk, his posts range from professional business announcements to basic memes, and with such a rapidfire approach to the social media platform, he may not even use the edit button.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 7, 2022
