Schoenebeck: An edit button for tweets raises a number of issues

For years, Twitter users have been clamoring for an edit button. While the platform held strong against the option, it seems that an edit button is an imminent addition. 

But there are a lot of issues with editing tweets. The core intent of tweets can be changed, long after a commenter has weighed in. Allowing editing can also encourage scamming, spread misinformation, and hide genuine intent of tweets. 

In a news story in WIRED, researchers weighed in on the Twitter edit button, and what steps could be taken to mitigate harm. 

Sarita Schoenebeck, associate professor at University of Michigan School of Information, said she has concerns about an edit button. “I’m falling on the ‘seems like a bad idea right now’ side of things, at least on surface value,” she said. 

Along with the potential to spread disinformation, Schoenebeck said an edit button could muddy the water for Twitter users. “I don’t think, from an interface design perspective, it would make it clear what the trajectory of a tweet was,” she said, explaining that it might be hard to tell what the original intent of a tweet was before it went viral. 

Shoenebeck suggested an alternative for a simple edit button: an archive label. Rather than editing, people could decide whether to leave the tweet public, or archive it. She said archiving would indicate “I no longer support this, or I retract this, or I’m sorry for this.”

Read “This Is How Twitter’s Edit Button Can Actually Work,” on wired.com.

Learn more about associate professor Sarita Schoenebeck.