Twitter users have been asking the platform administration for more than a year to add the ability to edit messages, and it seems that only now it has been decided to implement this feature. However, it will not work as you might think. On a technical level, it will not be editing old tweets, but creating new ones.
The details of the new feature were revealed by researcher Jane Manchun Wong. Here is how she describes the editing mechanism: “Twitter’s approach to editing tweets seems will not change. Instead of changing the text in the same tweet (with the same ID); the platform creates a new tweet with the changed content, as well as a list of old tweets that preceded this one”.
Otherwise, the operation of the function does not imply any surprises. By clicking on the icon with three dots in the upper right corner of the message, a menu appears with the item “Edit Tweet”. By selecting this item, the user enters the standard interface for sending a new tweet – the only difference is that the button below the field is “Update” instead of the traditional “Tweet”.
Twitter: Tweet editing will include edit history
Recently, the head of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk offered to buy the Twitter service. The company’s board of directors accepted the offer without enthusiasm and took action against a hostile takeover. In response, the businessman allegedly decided to enlist the support of other investors.
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Looks like Twitter’s approach to Edit Tweet is immutable, as in, instead of mutating the Tweet text within the same Tweet (same ID), it re-creates a new Tweet with the amended content, along with the list of the old Tweets prior of that edit
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 16, 2022
According to online sources, Elon Musk is discussing with potential investors the possibility of a joint acquisition of Twitter. The billionaire’s new plan to buy the social network, along with other investors, will be official in the coming days. The New York Post writes about this, citing its own informed sources.
According to reports, Musk is considering working with investment firm Silver Lake Partners. Silver Lake Partners co-chairman Egon Durban is also a member of Twitter’s board of directors. He previously led Musk’s deals team during Tesla’s failed privatization attempt in 2018. Official representatives of the investment company declined to comment on this issue.
Elon Musk previously said that in the event of a failure to buy out the remaining part of Twitter shares (now he owns 9.1% of the shares), he has a “plan B”, but the details of it were not disclosed. Perhaps the billionaire’s back-up plan is precisely to attract new investors to the deal.
