Twitter Announces Users Will Now Be Able to Edit Tweets

Drew Weisholtz
Updated ·2 min read

At some point, most Twitter users have fired off a tweet and then realized they want to make a change, but it’s too late. Well, that soon may be a thing of the past.

The microblogging service told TODAY Oct. 6 it will roll out a feature called Edit Tweet to Twitter Blue subscribers in the United States that will enable them to edit their tweets. Twitter said the feature had previously been available in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

In September, Twitter said it was working on Edit Tweet, allowing users to alter their tweets after publishing them.

“Edit Tweet is a feature that lets people make changes to their Tweet after it’s been published,” the social network said in a statement. “Think of it as a short period of time to do things like fix typos, add missed tags, and more.”

The company was testing Edit Tweet internally before offering it to people who subscribe to Twitter Blue. Twitter had said it would test it in one country, although it wasn't specified which.

An example of what at edited tweet could look like. (Twitter)
An example of what at edited tweet could look like. (Twitter)

“For this test, Tweets will be able to be edited a few times in the 30 minutes following their publication,” the statement said. “Edited Tweets will appear with an icon, timestamp, and label so it’s clear to readers that the original Tweet has been modified. Tapping the label will take viewers to the Tweet’s Edit History, which includes past versions of the Tweet.

“For context, the time limit and version history play an important role here. They help protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said.”

Twitter said in the statement editing tweets is the most requested feature from users and it is intentionally focusing on a controlled set to locate out any issues.

“Like any new feature, we’re intentionally testing Edit Tweet with a smaller group to help us incorporate feedback while identifying and resolving potential issues,” the company said. “This includes how people might misuse the feature. You can never be too careful.”

People have lamented for years that they can’t alter the content of a tweet after it’s been published, and Twitter said it wanted this change to make its site enjoyable to the masses.

“We’re hoping that, with the availability of Edit Tweet, Tweeting will feel more approachable and less stressful,” the statement said. “You should be able to participate in the conversation in a way that makes sense to you, and we’ll keep working on ways that make it feel effortless to do just that.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com