Editing a tweet using Twitter’s next edit button could leave a digital trail of your tweet’s history, according to reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong. In a tweetManchun Wong explains that the edit feature appears to have an “immutable” quality, meaning that Twitter can create an entirely new tweet when one is edited, while also preserving previous versions of that tweet.
“It appears that Twitter’s approach to Edit Tweet is immutable, as instead of mutating the Tweet text within the same Tweet (same ID), it re-creates a new Tweet with the modified content, along with the list of tweets. Previous Tweets. of that edition,” says Manchun Wong.
It appears that Twitter’s approach to editing Tweets is immutable, as instead of mutating the Tweet text within the same Tweet (same ID), it re-creates a new Tweet with the changed content, along with the list of Tweets. old before that edition
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 16, 2022
As Manchun Wong grades, it’s not clear how, or if, a tweet’s edit history will appear to users. But if Twitter decides to make tweet history public, it could be a way to address concerns about potential abuse of the feature, as some critics believe it could be used to alter the public record and mislead users.
Applications researcher Alessandro Paluzzi also tweeted what appear to be screenshots of the new feature, giving us an idea of what the edit button might look like when live on Twitter. In a screenshot, Paluzzi shows how the “Edit tweet” option might appear in the three-dot menu on the right side of your tweets.
Selecting the button takes you to a screen that looks a lot like the regular tweet composer, only it’s pre-filled with your tweet text and says “Update” in the bottom right corner instead of “Tweet.” However, Paluzzi’s screenshots don’t show an option to view a tweet’s edit history.
Twitter has yet to confirm the presence of a tweet history tracker. “Nothing else to share right now other than what’s in this Tweet from @TwitterComms and that Tweet from @JaySullivanvice president of consumer products,” Anna Hubatsch, a Twitter spokeswoman, said in a statement emailed to the edge.
Twitter first announced that it is working on the coveted edit button earlier this month, after apparently joking about the function on April Fools’ Day. But just before the official Twitter confirmation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk polled his followers about an edit button after revealing his purchase of a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, becoming Twitter’s largest single shareholder. He has been a whirlwind of events ever since, with musk union Y leave the board of directors of Twitterand later offer to buy the entire company. Twitter shareholders are currently trying to block Musk’s purchase with the poison pill method.