For as long as Twitter has existed, users have been crying out for an edit button. We may never get one, but Twitter is experimenting with similar features including the ability to unpublish a tweet for a few seconds after posting it.
As The Verge reports, the unannounced “Undo Send” feature was discovered by well-known app researcher Jane Manchun Wong. As Wong’s tweet below reveals, Twitter is experimenting with adding a few seconds of rethink time after you hit the button to make a tweet live. A message appears informing you the tweet was sent, but an Undo button appears underneath that doubles as a countdown timer. When the timer is empty, you can no longer “undo” the tweet.
It’s not an edit button, but it’s about as close as you can get because hitting the Undo button places the tweet back in an unpublished, editable state. Is that good enough? For many it probably will be, and it’s certainly better than not having any option other than deleting a live tweet. Of course, we have no idea if Twitter will ever choose to implement it as a feature we can all use.
The pace Twitter rolls out new features is very slow, and recently the service has been laser-focused on dealing with misinformation, be that from a former president or regarding the ongoing pandemic. Most recently, Twitter implemented a five-strike system to curb COVID-19 misinformation while at the same time attempting to compete with the latest audio-focused experience that is Clubhouse.
