The mechanism behind the expected Edit Tweet feature - there is a catch

A couple of weeks ago, Twitter announced the upcoming addition of a long-awaited feature - Edit Tweet. As the name suggests, this option could enable users to modify past tweets, something that has never been possible in the 15 years of Twitter’s history. However, spoiler alert, the company will allegedly keep track of all versions of the tweet, including the unedited one.

Despite the lack of much official information, а potentially controversial speculation recently surfaced. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong explained the likely mechanism that the new option might utilize. Currently, it seems that the Edit Tweet feature will not actually rewrite the original tweet. Instead, it will effectively create a new tweet that will reflect the changes, but traces of the original will remain present and accessible, at the very least by Twitter. That's how things are expected to work at a technical level. We don't yet know if users would see all previous versions of the tweet or just a "Tweet Edited" label like you do with some chat apps like Skype.

Many users have rejoiced at the prospect of finally being able to edit their tweets, while others have been left with mixed feelings. A couple of weeks ago, Elon Musk, the newly-crowned largest shareholder of the social network, conducted a poll revealing that a vast majority of users or, at the very least, of his followers would welcome a tweet-editing option. And, as smart business dictates, the customer is king - soon after, news of the currently under development Edit Tweet feature emerged (just so you are aware, apparently Twitter did not get the idea from a poll). Whether Twitter meets expectations remains to be seen.