Television host Bianca Gonzalez chimed in on the discussion about Twitter developing an “edit” button or option in the platform after it confirmed that it is granting the longtime request of its users.
The “Pinoy Big Brother” host tweeted what she said is an “unpopular opinion” about the development of a new feature that will allow users to modify their tweets after posting them.
“@Twitter shouldn’t have an edit button. So many implications on responsibility, accountability… if edits need to be made, there is always the delete button and/or erratum posts,” Bianca wrote on Wednesday.
Unpopular opinion: @Twitter shouldn't have an edit button. So many implications on responsibility, accountability.. if edits need to be made, there is always the delete button and/or erratum posts.
— Bianca Gonzalez (@iamsuperbianca) April 6, 2022
Her tweet has reached 21,100 likes, over 2,900 retweets and more than 600 quote tweets so far.
Some agreed with Bianca and cited that the inability to edit posts makes people “accountable” for what they publish.
“I agree! I don’t want to be troubled into unliking ang removing QT (quote tweets) and RTs (retweets) just because original tweet was subsequently edited. If this will push thru, there will be less engagement. Won’t be bothered to RT and QT. Besides, I don’t mind typo errors, fast hands ‘eh, ganun talaga,” a Twitter user said.
“I agree with you Ms. Bianca. Pero now na na-share mo ‘to, naisip ko lang din now na one advantage of not having an edit button is people have to think multiple times or really check the things that they type before posting them,” another online user said.
“YES. If there was an edit button, then people can easily change the narrative ‘pag may issue sila or something,” a different Filipino commented.
Online buzz on Twitter’s ‘edit’ button
Last Saturday, Twitter announced that it is “working an edit button.”
we are working on an edit button
— Twitter (@Twitter) April 1, 2022
The platform confirmed that it has been “working on an edit feature since last year,” before Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk had asked users on Tuesday if they wanted an “edit button” or not.
READ: Elon Musk takes 9% stake in Twitter to become top shareholder, starts poll on edit button
Twitter recently announced that the world’s richest man will join its board after purchasing 73.5 million shares of the platform’s common stock.
But the platform said that it “didn’t get the idea from a poll.”
“We’re kicking off testing within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible,” Twitter said.
It also gave a glimpse of the “Edit Tweet” option in a GIF post.
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) April 5, 2022
The “edit” feature has long been requested by users of the microblogging platform.
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey previously said that the platform was designed as such since it “started as an SMS text messaging service.”
He explained that having an “edit” feature might affect the way conversations would flow on the platform.
“One is, you might send a tweet and then someone might retweet that and then an hour later, you completely change the content of that tweet, and that person that retweeted the original tweet is now retweeting and re-broadcasting something completely different. So that’s something to watch out for,” Dorsey said before.
Jay Sullivan, Twitter’s head of consumer product, acknowledged on Wednesday the public clamor but said that the “edit” feature “could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation.”
“Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation. Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work,” he tweeted.
“Therefore, it will take time and we will be actively seeking input and adversarial thinking in advance of launching Edit. We will approach this feature with care and thoughtfulness and we will share updates as we go,” Sullivan said.
“This is just one feature we are exploring as we work to give people more choice and control over their Twitter experience, foster a healthy conversation, and help people be more comfortable on Twitter. These are the things that motivate us every day,” he added.
