The edit history feature has been in experimental stages for the past 2 weeks, having had its soft launch for Twitter Blue subscribers in New Zealand on 21st September 2022. The highly anticipated editing tool was a glimmer of hope for some users to finally have the ability to fix misspelled words, quotes, and statements that were not double-checked.
Twitter announced that as of October 4, the Edit Tweet feature is officially available for all Twitter blue subscribers and although everyone was very happy to see this long-awaited feature be introduced, there were fears that in order to protect the integrity and authenticity of Twitter’s transparent conversations users would be able to see all the editing history.
We can now confirm this will not be the case as Twitter will show you the full edit history together with the original statements. Staying true to the company’s brand values of unfiltered conversations, their commitment to show the full edit history leaves a few influential figures disappointed as some rash tweets and statements are better left unseen.
How will the edit history be displayed?
Edited Tweets will include a timestamp, icon, and a label indicating that you are not seeing the original version. Tapping the label will bring up the new Edit History, which will show all past versions of the Tweet.
In a re-tweet of social media consultant and expert, Matt Navarra, the Twitter Blue subscriber shared a preview video showcasing how a feed will look like if tweets were altered.
now that Edit is rolling out in Twitter Blue Labs, here’s what you can expect
— Twitter Blue (@TwitterBlue) October 3, 2022
see that little icon? it’s there to let you know that the Tweet has been edited pic.twitter.com/Av6vZYuVeO
Unfortunately having the edit history visible is not the only snag, as Twitter made it clear the edit feature would only be valid from 30 mins the time of posting. Secondly, tweets can only be edited to a maximum of 5 times in that 30-minute window. So not exactly complete editing freedom, but the idea is to provide enough time to fix typos, add missing media files, and include hashtags that might have been missed to increase the statement’s reach.Â
Twitter had long resisted adding an edit option due to the brief nature of tweets, which led to concerns that even the slightest of changes could significantly alter the context of the original message. That, in turn, could cause problems for tweets that people had retweeted, or tweet embeds on other sites.
The answer to the first element is the full edit history, which enables all users to glean context as to why it was originally shared – so when a celebrity inevitably re-tweets something that’s been edited into an offensive comment, they can now refer to the history to explain themselves. Which for publications and users is great, but not so much for those underneath the limelight if they take one misstep in a public comment.
On the second concern, Twitter’s also working on new notes to add to embedded tweets which will provide more context as to its edit history.
So you’ll theoretically be able to embed the original tweet in perpetuity, but readers will have the option to tap through to find out what the latest edits to that comment may be.
Either way, Twitter’s solutions seem to address the core concerns and highly requested demands users have been begging to integrate into the platform. As we wait to see how this feature would be used for professional accounts, it’ll be interesting to see how Twitter Blue subscribers use the option, and whether we see a lot more edit icons appearing in tweet streams.
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