Twitter announces long-awaited 'edit' button — not an April Fool's joke

SALT LAKE CITY — When Twitter's official Twitter account tweeted "we are working on an edit button" on Friday (April 1), many assumed it was an April Fool's Day gag.

But the company announced Tuesday that it was no joke.

Twitter said developers have been working on an edit feature "since last year," and it will be available for testing by select users "in the coming months."

For years, avid tweeters have begged and pleaded for the ability to correct typos or make other changes to their already-posted tweets, like nearly every other social media site has allowed for a long time.

In fact, Twitter's head of consumer product Jay Sullivan said it's been "the most requested Twitter feature for many years."

Sullivan quote-tweeted Twitter's tweet with a thread of some additional insights on the future edit button.

"People want to be able to fix (sometimes embarrassing) mistakes, typos and hot takes in the moment. They currently work around this by deleting and tweeting again," he wrote.

While users have made do with the tweet-and-delete method, it doesn't quite work when someone notices a mistake in the middle of their own thread (multiple tweets from the original poster as replies).

Not everyone is in favor of an edit button on Twitter, however. Some have pointed out that it could allow for misinformation after people have already liked and/or retweeted a tweet. Sullivan hinted that they are considering "things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited" to avoid the feature being "misused to alter the record of the public conversation." It's possible Twitter could follow the example of Facebook, which allows the public to view when posts have been edited and what the original text said. Others, including Instagram, show a barely-noticeable disclaimer that merely says "Edited."

Like it or not, "edit" is now on the way — at least for testing. Twitter said the feature will be tested in Twitter Blue Labs to figure out "what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible."

Twitter Blue is a relatively new feature on the social media outlet. For $2.99 a month, users get access to certain "premium" features — such as previewing a tweet before posting, customizing their experience, select ad-free articles, and early access to new features.

It is not yet known exactly when Twitter Blue members will be able to test out the "edit" feature. Stay tuned!