Twitter Will Test Edit Feature Soon, Made Not Because Of Elon Musk's Poll

Twitter is soon testing the edit feature on Twitter Blue. (photo:@jaysullivan)

JAKARTA - Twitter Inc said on Tuesday, March 5, that it will start testing the new edit feature in the coming months. This announcement certainly comes as a surprise to its users as it happens on the same day that Tesla boss, Elon Musk, will be joining the board of the social media company.

Jay Sullivan, Twitter's head of consumer products, said in a tweet that the company had been working since last year to build an edit option, "Twitter's most requested feature for years".

1/ We’ve been exploring how to build an Edit feature in a safe manner since last year and plan to begin testing it within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months. Sharing a few more insights on how we’re thinking about Edit 🧵 https://t.co/WbcfkUue8e

— Jay Sullivan (@jaysullivan) April 5, 2022

The news, first mocked by Twitter on April Fools' Day last week, comes as the company faces a broader change of direction as Musk becomes its largest shareholder and joins the board after questioning the social media platform's commitment to free speech.

Musk began polling Twitter users about the edit button after revealing his 9.2% stake in the company on Monday. As of 6:30 p.m. EST, the poll had more than 4.2 million votes, with 73.5% in favor of the feature.

Twitter's Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal asked users to "choose carefully" the poll last Monday, although the company tweeted on Tuesday that it didn't get the idea of creating an edit button from the poll.

Sullivan tweeted the feature would take time to perfect because "without things like time limits, control, and transparency about what's been edited, Edit can be abused to alter recordings of public conversations".

"The company will actively seek adversarial input and thoughts before launching Edit," Sullivan said.

Twitter will begin testing the feature in Twitter's premium subscription service, Blue Labs, in the coming months to "learn what works, what doesn't, and what works," he said.