Twitter Teases Users That It Will Add An Edit Button When 'Everyone Wears A Mask'

Twitter has teased its users that it will create an 'edit' button - but only once 'everyone wears a mask'.

The social media giant joked with its users that the chance to get the much-wanted feature is as simple as lashing a mask on during a pandemic.

Posting earlier this week, Twitter wrote:

As you can imagine, the tweet gained a bunch of attention - an edit button has been top of the list of Twitter users' wants for years, coupled with the fact that over in the US wearing a mask has become a contentious issue.

When asked to clear up if it was a legit offer, a spokesperson told CNN: "As Twitter comms tweeted, everyone means everyone. Nothing further to add beyond this!"

Given that we're never going to be able to prove that 'everyone' is wearing a mask, it seems pretty unlikely we'll be getting an edit button any time soon.

This backs what Twitter boss Jack Dorsey told WIRED in January, when he bluntly explained there were no plans to introduce one.

Responding to a tweet requesting an edit button for 2020, Dorsey replied simply: "No."

PA

He then expanded: "The reason there's been no edit button traditionally is that we started as an SMS text messaging service. So, as you all know, when you send a text you can't really take it back. We wanted to preserve that vibe and that feeling in the early days."

Speaking about the potential problems with an edit button, Dorsey said: "One is, you might send a tweet and then someone might retweet that and an hour later you completely change the contents of that tweet and that person who retweeted the original tweet is now retweeting - and rebroadcasting - something completely different."

He went on to say that Twitter had considered introducing a 30 second or one-minute window in which users could change their tweet, to correct spelling or fix a broken link, but he explained that that would mean Twitter has to delay sending the tweet out, which isn't something it wants to do.

He finished by adding: "We've made some practical considerations, but we'll probably never do it."

Sorry, guys - it looks like we'll need to put up with typos in our tweets for the foreseeable.

Topics: Coronavirus, Twitter, Technology

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19