Elon Musk’s Twitter Edit Button Poll Brings Big News

Known for staying the same over the years, Twitter has changed its known course and is often seen in the news announcing mega changes. Whether it’s about introducing the new Twitter CEO or their new edit feature, Twitter has truly undergone a personality makeover in the last couple of years. After the downvote feature, the new edit button is the second biggest change on the platform this year.

The edit button hasn’t been introduced yet but in the last couple of days, there has been tremendous discussion and revelations on the topic on Twitter and every other social media platform. You might have heard about it in connection with Elon Musk. But what does Elon Musk have to do with the edit feature on Twitter? Read on to know:

What Is The Fuss Around Twitter’s New Edit Button?

Twitter is finally launching the most requested feature (The edit button) on Twitter Blue for testing. Users have been asking for an edit button on Twitter for years, but the company always denied the request owing to transparency issues. This is why when a tweet announcing the launch of the edit button was shared through the official Twitter account; people went ballistic. How did Twitter change its stance on the edit button issue, and did the largest stakeholder in the company, Elon Musks’ Twitter poll play a hand in this announcement?

Let’s take a look at the events that triggered Twitter’s statement to better understand the situation:

Elon Musk Starts a Poll About Twitter Edit Button

Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk became the biggest shareholder of Twitter with a whopping 9.2% stake in the micro-blogging site. That’s way more than Twitter’s founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey’s 2.3% stake. Elon Musk on Monday, shared a poll on his Twitter account asking users “Do you want an edit button?” From which 73% of the people voted “Yes”.

This poll wouldn’t have been such a big deal if Elon Musk hadn’t just grabbed a seat as the newest Board member with the largest stake in the company.

Twitter CEO Warns Users To Be Careful With Their Response to Elon Musk’s Poll

As if the whole poll scenario wasn’t already full of suspicion and anticipation, the new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal retweeted Musk’s tweet. He wrote “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” Agrawal’s tweet encouraged the already brewing suspicion of a new edit button being launched on Twitter. But nothing was said officially yet.

Twitter Confirms Plans To Launch Edit Button For Twitter Blue

On 5th April 2022, Twitter announced their plan to test launch the edit button on their paid service Twitter Blue.

“Now that everyone is asking… yes, we’ve been working on an edit feature since last year! No, we did not get the notion from a poll,” Twitter tweeted, referring to the poll the newest board member started on Twitter asking if users want an edit button.

The company is planning to test the new feature on its paid service “Twitter Blue” where they can learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible. A gif was shared with the tweet showing the edit button which can be accessed from the three dots on the top right corner of every tweet.

After years of waiting, Twitter users will finally be able to enjoy the edit button and get rid of typos without losing retweets and replies.

Why Did Twitter Hold On To Adding An Edit Button For Years?

For years, the most requested Twitter feature has been edit,” stated Jay Sullivan, Head of Consumer Product. “People want to be able to correct (often humiliating) errors, typos, and heated takes in real-time. Currently, they get around this by deleting and retweeting.”

In the past, Twitter has been hesitant to implement an edit button due to fears that it will be misused. The biggest concern is that a viral tweet could be altered to include new facts. People who rebroadcast the original tweet would be completely ignorant that the content had been modified.

“Without time limitations, controls, and openness about what has been edited, the Edit button might be used to tamper with the public record,” Sullivan added.

“Protecting the integrity of that public discussion is our top priority when we approach this work.”

Conclusion

Twitter is working on launching an edit button to help users edit typos and mistakes in their tweets without having to delete the tweet. The announcement came after Elon Musk, the biggest shareholder in the company, started a Twitter poll asking users whether they want an edit button on the platform. Twitter, the company, and the platform are changing at a fast pace and it will be interesting to watch where these changes take our modern Townsquare.