Twitter is adding an edit button

Twitter users have been requesting this feature for so long that it's become a meme, but now the mythical "edit button" has become a reality. Twitter has announced that it is working to allow users to edit their tweets after posting them. The idea is that you can correct any typos or errors in a tweet without sacrificing the replies, retweets, or likes you've already racked up. Twitter plans to start testing the feature with Twitter Blue subscribers in "the coming months," the company said Tuesday.

Users have been asking for an edit button for so long that it's become a running joke. "Tweets, but editable" has become the standard response to discovering a typo in a popular tweet. But former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been reluctant to add such a feature in the past. During a chat in 2018, Dorsey expressed concern that an edit button could allow users to change the meaning of a tweet after it's been widely shared, and in 2020 he said Twitter would "probably never" add the feature.

Jay Sullivan, the company's VP of consumer product, said that editing has been "the most requested Twitter feature for many years" in a thread on Tuesday. The company has been finding how to build the feature "in a safe manner" since 2021.

"Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation," he said. "Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work."

Twitter's opinion of an edit button appears to have changed after Parag Agrawal became CEO. On April 1, the annual day of corporate lies, the official Twitter account said he was "working on an edit button." Though taken as a joke at the time, Twitter product lead Michael Sayman later noted the tweet as the company's "official statement" on the feature.

Twitter's opinion of an edit button appears to have changed after Parag Agrawal became CEO. On April 1, the annual day of corporate lies, the official Twitter account said he was "working on an edit button." Though taken as a joke at the time, Twitter product lead Michael Sayman later noted the tweet as the company's "official statement" on the feature.