It's 2019, and lo and behold, people still can't edit tweets. Users have long been asking Twitter to finally add this capability, but such requests have yielded very little, if any, success thus far.
While it might seem common sense for Twitter to have an "edit" feature, things aren't so simple. As always, there are always implications that come when Twitter lets people change their statements. One user, for example, could post inflammatory and hateful language and then sanitize it later on as if no harm was done at all.
As such, it's hard to put the full blame on Twitter for not adding it sooner. However, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently appeared on Joe Rogan Experience and talked about a number of things, including his plans to add the feature on Twitter and how it would work.
How Editing Tweets Could Work
Dorsey suggested that Twitter could let people edit tweets, but only within a given time period immediately after posting it. He said there could be a "five-second to 30-second delay" after a tweet is posted, during which the author may apply their necessary adjustments. However, Dorsey said he wouldn't want this to be too long, as it would dissolve the "real-time nature" of posts.
Original Tweets
Apart from the possibility of a delay, Twitter is also looking into adding the ability to see the original tweet. Actually, Rogan first suggested this, and Dorsey said the company was exploring "exactly that." This makes sense since this way, people who post hate speech wouldn't get away with posting abusive content even if they edit it afterward.
Though Dorsey floated these possibilities during the conversation with Rogan, there's no guarantee that anything is in the works. It's also entirely possible that Twitter won't be adding an edit tool at all. That said, Dorsey's suggestions at least provide insight into Twitter's thinking. At the same time, it's also an acknowledgement that there are things the company must first consider before rolling out the tool willy-nilly.
Online Harassment
There have been many complaints about Twitter's insufficient efforts toward getting rid of hateful speech on the platform, and it's hard to believe letting people edit tweets would help curb this atmosphere of hate. At least Twitter knows that it has to tread lightly and carefully, lest it makes its hate speech issues worse.
Would you like to have the ability to edit tweets? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
