Twitter’s upcoming edit feature is likely to leave a digital trace of the tweet’s history, according to reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong.
It hints that Twitter may create an entirely new tweet while preserving the previous versions. Wong wrote on Twitter, “Looks like Twitter’s approach to Edit Tweet is immutable.”
Wong noted in a Twitter response that it is unclear how the edit history will appear to users. The Verge reported, “If Twitter does decide to make tweet history public, it could be a way to address concerns over potential abuse of the feature.”
App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi shared a screenshot of how the new feature might appear. The edit option could appear in the three-dot menu on the right side of a tweet, The Verge reported.
In an email to The Verge, Twitter spokesperson Anna Hubatsch has confirmed, “Nothing else to share at the moment” regarding the tweet history tracker.
Twitter revealed earlier this month that it had been working on its edit feature. Elon Musk also ran a poll on Twitter asking if users require an editing tool prior to the company’s announcement. Twitter then said that it has been working on the feature since last year and has not acted based on Musk’s public poll.
Retweeting the announcement, VP of Consumer Product Jay Sullivan had earlier explained in a series of tweets, “People want to be able to fix (sometimes embarrassing) mistakes, typos, and hot take at the moment. They currently work around this by deleting and tweeting again”.
“Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work,” Sullivan added.
Published on
April 18, 2022
