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Edit tweets explained: timer for editing, rules to like, retweet, or reply

Twitter is readying the ability for users to edit tweets. This long-requested feature was first seen as an April Fools’ Day joke and then later confirmed by the company that this is in fact happening. Now, we have more info on how editing tweets will actually work.

According to developer and app researcher Nima Owji, Twitter is working on a timer for when you’re editing a tweet, and it will appear when you’re editing it.

As of now, it’s not clear if users will have 30 minutes to edit a tweet or if it’s just a placeholder for the official release. Other platforms have a different approach. Facebook lets you edit any post with no problem, although it will show an “edited” mark. Instagram, on the other hand, doesn’t show when you edit a caption, for example.

Another interesting finding by Owji is that you won’t be able to like, retweet, or reply to the old version of an edited tweet. That means it will almost feel like a deleted tweet, as you’ll be able to interact only with the newest version of that tweet.

In April, 9to5Mac reported Jane Manchun Wong’s findings on the ability to edit tweets that corroborate Owji’s recent report.

According to her, tweets will remain “unchanged” even with the introduction of the Edit Tweet feature. Wong explains based on her findings that instead of editing the original tweet, the platform will create a new tweet using a different ID. More than that, Twitter will keep a record of the original tweet, as well as any previous edits the user has made. 

Last but not least, 9to5Mac already previewed the edit tweet interface. In addition to that, it’s important to note that, as of now, the ability to edit tweets seems will be exclusive to Twitter Blue subscribers.

Are you excited to edit tweets? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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