Should Twitter's 'Edit' Button Preserve Your Tweet's History Online? (theverge.com) 50
The Verge reports that "Editing a tweet using Twitter's upcoming edit button could leave a digital trace of your tweet's history, according to reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong."
In a tweet, Manchun Wong explains that the edit function appears to have an "immutable" quality, which means Twitter may create an entirely new tweet when one is edited, all while preserving the previous versions of that tweet.
"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," Manchun Wong says.
As Manchun Wong notes, it's unclear how a tweet's edit history will appear to users, or if it will at all. But if Twitter does decide to make tweet history public, it could be a way to address concerns over potential abuse of the feature, as some critics believe it could be used to alter the public record and mislead users.
But in the end, it's two entirely separate questions. Will Twitter's edit functionality preserve a tweet's history online?
And should it?
"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," Manchun Wong says.
As Manchun Wong notes, it's unclear how a tweet's edit history will appear to users, or if it will at all. But if Twitter does decide to make tweet history public, it could be a way to address concerns over potential abuse of the feature, as some critics believe it could be used to alter the public record and mislead users.
But in the end, it's two entirely separate questions. Will Twitter's edit functionality preserve a tweet's history online?
And should it?
Depends on length of time (Score:5, Interesting)
It does NOT Depends on length of time (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
You have been able to delete tweets from day one. It's not a big deal, people screenshot anything interesting and fakes are quickly debunked.
In fact screenshotting is preferable in some ways. It means there is no link back to the original post, so it prevents the pile-on. Most people are too lazy to track the OP down just to tell them what an idiot they are.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
To me it depends on the length of time you're allowed to edit after
Length is not a relevant metric. Use is. For me I can post a tweet and it would be day without someone seeing it. For Trump a tweet would be picked up within seconds.
It makes far more sense to tie it to the state of a tweet. Has it been replied to, has it been retweeted, and has it been embedded somewhere.
No. (Score:4, Insightful)
I do not think people should be able to durably 'unsay' the stupid shit they spout on twitter.
I mean, as far as I can tell, that (saying stupid shit they should really keep in their heads) is THE POINT of twitter.
Re: No. (Score:5, Insightful)
That's what "Delete Tweet" is for.
Having the edit history means that someone can't change the original tweet to changes the meanings of the replies.
So absolutely the history should be maintained.
Re: No. (Score:2)
Which is classic version management.
Twitter is so simple that even Subversion would be almost overkill.
Re: JFC (Score:2)
Anything that's not physical items can be rendered worthless overnight.
Re: JFC (Score:2)
They can always post on 4chan.
Could it be? (Score:1)
Probably. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Probably. (Score:4, Insightful)
Nothing wrong with it (Score:3)
I don't know what people have against deleting a tweet they've misspelled or even thought better of posting at all.
If I make a mistake on Twitter, I delete it and post again. It's never claimed to be the social media of record.
Re: (Score:2)
No one is discussing deleting. We're discussing editing. There's a key distinction in how the result affects people who have replied to a tweet.
IMO a tweet should be editable without editing history unless it has been a) retweeted, b) replied to, c) embedded somewhere. I.e. until someone shares it or responds to it in any way we should be free to change a record.
Facebook already has this feature... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not like the "edit post" concept is anything new.
Facebook has had an "edit post" feature for some time...it show's that it's been edited, and when you click the "edit" hyperlink...it shows the history.
It seems to work well.
People are acting like this is new territory.
Re: (Score:2)
"I was on arpanet so I'm willingly ignorant about modern communications."
It's a weird flex.
StackOverflow too (Score:2)
I'll stick with delete then. (Score:2)
I'd use edit specifically for fat fingered tweeting and Google voice snafus. If I can't do that I'll stick with delete and re-post.
Twitter as "public record" ... pfft (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
> It serves as a place where pissed-off people rant indecorously without thinking.
Sometimes the pissed-off people ranting without thinking are asking you to vote them into the oval office.
Sometimes the pissed-off people ranting without thinking are already president.
IMHO it's useful to be able to see what the president actually said in a public forum. Including a stinky public forum.
not even delete (Score:3)
I don't think delete should even exist.
Think before you post.
If thinking is hard for you then don't use Twitter.
Maybe have an, "EDIT: after all edited saying what the new thing is."
Anyway deleting and editing almost seems like a memory hole to me.
Points if you can guess what year I got that from.
Re: (Score:2)
If thinking is hard for you then don't use Twitter.
If that happens the user base will collapse and then Musk will be able to offer only $54.20 to buy Twitter.
Version Control (Score:1)
Who cares? (Score:2)
Wow (Score:2)
Too much thought over too little content. It doesn't matter at all if Tweets have history or not.
Saving the edit history solves my issues with edit (Score:2)
Iâ(TM)ve never been crazy about the delete tweet function, and editing without history seems even worse.
three half-baked ideas (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not a user, please forgive any ignorant, impractical ideas.
1 If you can delete tweets, why is edit necessary? Just get rid of the offending tweet and replace it with a better one.
2 Edit can be done as an update: The new information will be appended to the old message.
3 Could not a poorly presented tweet simply be followed by another tweet with a correction or apology?
Personally I don't think Delete should be possible, or any way to hide what has been said. That's the Slashdot way.
Re:three half-baked ideas (Score:4, Interesting)
If you can delete tweets, why is edit necessary? Just get rid of the offending tweet and replace it with a better one.
The main reason, as I understand it, is if a tweet goes viral and it has a typo, people want to be able to edit it, so they don't then have to defend themselves against tens of thousands of the world's biggest pedants trying to derail the conversation ("this person's point is stupid because they made a spelling mistake!") and/or so they don't have to feel silly for having a post that many people will see with a simple mistake.
Whoever controls the past (Score:1)
controls the future.
Whoever controls the present controls the past.
You can have my dead tree books when you pry them from my cold dead hands.
Possible Solution(s)? (Score:1)
Possible Solution #1: Stop using Twitter?
Possible Solution #2: Delete the tweet and write a new one (even Slashdot.org should have a delete function but one where once you post and delete you are not allowed to re-post to the same thread because of the "free" delete they gave out.)?
Possible Solution #3: If Twitter started making people pay a small amount (doge?) every time they tweeted, it would cut down on.. _some_ of the stupid comments / trolling / scamming / etc.
Possible Solution #4: Stop using Twitter!
Here is the standard (Score:2)
If even one person or bot has seen your tweet, then IMO editing it should leave access to the history, but at minimum should leave a mark. Contrariwise, if even one person has retweeted you or replied to your tweet, you should not be able to edit, hide, or delete it, period. That is abusive to other users. Editing aside, they currently allow that.
However, what absolutely must not be permitted is to not provide an edit history for any edited tweet which has been replied to. That would be gaslighting, yes rea
"There is No Undo" (Score:2)