Twitter announced Tuesday that the company would test a new function to allow users to edit posts shared on the platform.
The company said in a Twitter thread that it had been working on an edit feature since last year, confirming a tease it posted on April Fools Day. The company wrote on April 1 that it was working on an edit button and on Tuesday, it said in its post, "we weren't joking."
Tuesday's announcement tweet explained that the platform would be testing the edit feature in the coming months to see "what works, what doesn't, and what's possible."
The feature will begin on Twitter Blue, the platform's subscription service, Twitter's post noted.
Twitter vice president of consumer product Jay Sullivan said in a separate Twitter thread that an edit feature has been "the most requested Twitter feature for many years" because users want to "be able to fix (sometimes embarrassing) mistakes, typos and hot takes in the moment."
"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," Sullivan wrote. "Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work."
"Therefore, it will take time and we will be actively seeking input and adversarial thinking in advance of launching Edit. We will approach this feature with care and thoughtfulness and we will share updates as we go," he continued. "This is just one feature we are exploring as we work to give people more choice and control over their Twitter experience, foster a healthy conversation, and help people be more comfortable on Twitter. These are the things that motivate us every day."
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Twitter pointed out in its tweet that the company "didn't get the idea from a poll."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was recently brought onto Twitter's board of directors and now holds the largest share of the social media giant at 9.2 percent, shared a poll to his Twitter account Monday asking his followers if they would like an edit button.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal responded to Musk's tweet by saying "The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully."
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