Twitter needs an edit…
No, literally. Since its inception, Twitters users have been clamouring for the site to enable a way that tweets can be edited after they’ve been posted.
At the present, once a tweet hits cyberspace then the only way to modify what you’ve said is to delete it and start over. It seems now that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is acknowledging that this isn’t good enough.
@jack took to his own account to ask site users: “What’s the most important thing you want to see Twitter improve or create in 2017?”
Following in the footsteps of Brian Chesky: what's the most important thing you want to see Twitter improve or create in 2017? #Twitter2017
— jack (@jack) December 29, 2016
Following innumerable calls for the introduction of an edit button, Dorsey seemed keen to get into the nitty gritty of how that might be done. He conceded “a form of edit is def needed… for everyone.” However, he also pointed out that Twitter’s role as public record makes the ability to edit a tweet any time akin to tampering with a history book.
not sure why you're quoting this tweet but yes, a form of edit is def needed. But for everyone, not just those w badges
— jack (@jack) December 29, 2016
edit mistakes quickly or edit anytime? Big dif in implementation. Latter requires change log as we're oft the public record
— jack (@jack) December 29, 2016
Of course, Twitter users have been thinking about this for quite a while and have a ready-made solution: allowing users to see a tweets edit history, much like what Facebook currently provides on its status function.
edit anytime. Users could open tweet to see any previous edits to tweet.
— Anthony Quintano (@AnthonyQuintano) December 29, 2016
These are obviously moves in the right direction for Twitter, which has been struggling for the past while. Whether or not any changes are forthcoming remains to be seen.
