Twitter to Launch Test of Edit Button, Reveals New Details of Long-Awaited Feature

Twitter is finally about to give the world a look at its “Edit Tweet” function — which for years has been the No. 1 most-requested feature by users.

The company said Edit Tweet is currently being tested by internal teams. Starting later in September, the test will expand initially to subscribers of Twitter Blue, its service with enhanced features for power users that costs $4.99/month in the U.S.

In the test, users will be allowed to edit tweets a few times within a 30-minute window after they’re posted. Edited tweets will appear with an icon, label and timestamp so “it’s clear to readers that the original Tweet has been modified,” the company said in a blog post. Tapping the label will take viewers to the tweet’s Edit History, showing past versions of the post.

Twitter shared an example of what an edited tweet will look like:

“We’re hoping that, with the availability of Edit Tweet, Tweeting will feel more approachable and less stressful,” the company 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.”

Why is Twitter limiting the ability to make edits to only the first 30 minutes? “Think of it as a short period of time to do things like fix typos, add missed tags, and more,” the company said. According to Twitter, the time limit and version history “help protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said.”

Twitter — after years of resisting calls to add an edit button — in April announced that it was working on the feature. The company denied it was influenced by a Twitter poll on the subject fielded that same week by Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who was eager to get his hands on the social network before he wasn’t.

The company said it is intentionally testing Edit Tweet with a smaller group of users “to help us incorporate feedback while identifying and resolving potential issues,” including how people “might misuse the feature. You can never be too careful.” The initial test with Twitter Blue subscribers will be “localized to a single country at first” (which Twitter didn’t identify) and expand “as we learn and observe how people use Edit Tweet.”

Twitter noted that even if you’re not in a test group, you will still be able to see if a tweet has been edited.

Meanwhile, Twitter remains locked in a legal fight with Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual, who is trying to back out of his agreement to buy the company for $44 billion. Musk’s lawyers this week cited whistle-blower complaints from a fired Twitter exec, who alleged the company failed to disclose serious security deficiencies and other problems, as additional reasons Musk is justified in nixing the pact. Attorneys for Twitter, which is suing Musk to hold him to the original buyout terms, responded that his latest attempt to walk away from the deal was “invalid and wrongful.”