Another problem opponents are likely to have with Twitter’s editing feature as it’s currently designed is that it initially hides the context of what’s changed from other users. Twitter’s short, snappy conversational style means users often don’t fully absorb the content of posts they share — as evidenced by the platform’s June 2020 launch of a prompt asking users if they really liked articles they’ve retweeted. want to read before sharing it with their network . It’s unclear whether users faced with a viral tweet shared on their feed will query the edit history to see if the content of the tweet is what it was when it was shared. Precedent would suggest it is unlikely.
Yevgeniy Golovchenko, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen who analyzes the spread of misinformation and misinformation, recognizes the risks of bad actors manipulating the feature to their advantage, but he also sees it as potentially beneficial change for those without nefarious goals. If a Twitter user accidentally posts something that is inaccurate and points out their mistake, they must choose between keeping the misleading and potentially embarrassing tweet and deleting it. “I suspect the Edit button would eliminate this dilemma to some extent,” he says. “It will make it easier for the Twittersphere to correct itself. This could potentially be quite a meaningful change when it comes to fighting misinformation.”
Jean Burgess, professor of digital media at the Queensland University of Technology and author of a book on Twitter, also thinks it’s an overall positive change. “The safeguards, time limits, and transparency measures—by reporting changes and being able to disclose the previous version—seem to allay most concerns about potential abuse,” she says. “The core of the early adopter Twitter community has long been asking for this. It’s a good move and should be pretty uncontroversial, but we should always be prepared for nefarious actors to surprise us, I think.”
There are, of course, limitations to how the editing functionality works when it comes to accidentally sharing incorrect information. As anyone who has ever spent time on Twitter knows, content isn’t just shared through retweets. Some users choose to screen others’ tweets as an image and share them, rather than using Twitter’s built-in retweet functionality. People may very well create an image of a pre-edited tweet that still lives on by re-sharing on the platform — potentially eclipsing the reach of any corrected tweet. Another problem – a problem that no platform can solve – is that a solution to correct information only exists on the platform itself: many users have already seen the original, incorrect tweet and will never see a corrected version.
Plus, the edit button change probably won’t do much for the majority of Twitter users. “The edit option affects a minority of users who are tweeting,” said Elinor Carmi, a digital society lecturer at City, University of London, who specializes in digital literacy. “It may seem more because we follow and interact with the more ‘loud’ people,” she adds, “but they are certainly not the majority.”
Carmi also worries that the editing functionality will make it easier for those in power to evade responsibility for their words. “When it comes to editing for high-profile users, this is an opportunity but also a concern because by not editing tweets, we can hold politicians accountable for things they say, for example,” she says. “If they continue to edit their tweets, it will become more difficult to follow and monitor them.” While the edit feature would keep track of what their tweets originally said and how they were changed, the edit history as it is currently designed is hidden behind a prompt that users must click to see.
These are all issues that Twitter claims to have in mind in its blog post, so the closed nature of the initial tests. But they are fundamental issues that need to be addressed for the job to succeed, and as we learn more and more, what is said on social media can have a significant impact on our society and our lives.
