Twitter says edit feature is in works, not an April Fools’ Day prank

No joke: Twitter announced Tuesday that the company is working on a much-requested edit feature on its social media platform.

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The company tweeted on Friday, “we are working on an edit button.” Most users assumed it was Twitter’s idea of an April Fools’ Day prank.

But on Tuesday, the company’s communications team replied to that tweet and said, “ps: we weren’t joking.” The team followed up with a tweet featuring a GIF that included a Twitter menu on a mobile phone with an “edit tweet” option.

Jay Sullivan, head of consumer product at Twitter, said that the company has been working on an edit feature that can be implemented in a “safe manner” and the company will test it out in its labs in the coming months.

Sullivan acknowledged that the ability to edit is the most requested feature from Twitter users. Sullivan said that “protecting the integrity of that public conversation” is a top concern for Twitter and the company is looking for a way to add an edit feature that doesn’t end up being “misused to alter the record of the public conversation.”

Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, had long been against the idea of an edit feature.

As Pix11 pointed out, Twitter Blue paid subscribers have access to an undo feature, which allows a tweet to be canceled before anyone sees it.

In another tweet, Twitter’s communications team seemed to jokingly reference the company’s newest board member, Elon Musk, saying, “no, we didn’t get the idea from a poll” and adding a wink emoji. Musk, who now owns a 9% stake in the company, posted a poll on his own Twitter account Monday, after the stock announcement was made. Musk asked: “Do you want an edit button?” Over 4 million responses were recorded, with 73% of respondents saying yes, they did want an edit button.

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