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Twitter Is Now Testing Out An Edit Button

The feature will be available to some Twitter Blue subscribers in a few weeks.

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Twitter is officially testing the long-requested, often-criticized edit feature. The exact timeline of release is yet to be determined, but it will roll out to Twitter Blue subscribers soon.

In a new blog post, the Twitter team clarified how the feature will work. For 30 minutes after a tweet is published, users will be able to edit the tweet a few times. The edited tweet will appear with a icon and timestamp, indicating that the tweet has been edited. Clicking or tapping on the icon will show that tweet's edit history, including past versions of the tweet.

An example of an edited tweet, with a icon of a pencil and the words Last edited 8:55 AM to indicate its status.
An example of an edited tweet, with a icon of a pencil and the words Last edited 8:55 AM to indicate its status.

On one hand, being able to fix a typo or add a hashtag could be a useful feature. The time limit and icon also ensures a historical record of what was said. On the other hand, 30 minutes is a long time--certainly long enough for a tweet to gain some traction and then for it to be changed to say something entirely different. To put it crassly, the potential for trolling is pretty high.

However, that is why features like this get tried out ahead of a wide release. The Edit Tweet feature is being tested by Twitter's internal team and will then roll out to Twitter Blue subscribers in the next few weeks. The test will be limited to a single country to start and will spread as the feature is tested. You will be able to see whether a tweet has been edited edited regardless of if you are in the test group.

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