The ability to change existing tweets has long been the platform’s most sought-after feature, according to Vice President Jay Sullivan. However, the company has expressed concern that an edit button could be “abused to change the public chat file”. “Protecting the integrity of this public discourse is our first priority as we approach this work,” Sullivan wrote. Indeed, the new feature could be a benefit to prominent Twitter users who often put their foot in their mouth, speaking digitally. If the edit button had existed in previous years, what could politicians, celebrities and influencers have escaped?
The former president
These days, Donald Trump is busy projecting unquestionable evidence on the very popular and very successful Truth Social – many people say he is better than Facebook and Instagram and, frankly, the best social network ever created. However, some readers may remember that the former president was once a Twitter user. Trump would love editing, which would allow him to say no, he never said that. «Covfefe»; You must have read it wrong – that was a warning to Covid three years earlier. All these golf attacks on Barack Obama that you think you remember are, in the background, sympathetic tweets that say a president needs some time off in the green. (The manipulations seem likely to be labeled as such under the new feature, but Trump never let the documentation of the lies stand in his way.)
The 40-day pension
In January, Tom Brady “pondered a lot and asked myself difficult questions,” he said on Twitter on February 1. This concern led to the decision that “it is best to leave the field to the next generation.” He must have thought even more and asked even more difficult questions because 40 days later, he had “realized that my place is still on the field.” The new feature of Twitter could save him from embarrassment, although it would be too late to stop the pressures on the special issues of Sports Illustrated “GOAT says goodbye”.
The mysterious letter
In 2014, the businesswoman and TV presenter issued a statement consisting of an image of a cow behind a fence, along with the letter L. Was it a secret message to her friends on a conspiratorial underground network? A tribute to Sesame Street in her favorite letter? Did her cat just walk cleanly over the keyboard? Maybe he threw her one of the CBD chewing gum she’s filling now. It would be easy to edit this into a “lovely lovely horse”. Although, instead of thinking about it, Martha may have some other tweets she wants to review before she gets to that.
The selfie with stars
Speaking of pictures, Ellen DeGeneres’s selfie for the Oscars with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Lupita Nyong’o and many other stars went alarmingly viral in 2014 and remains among the most retweeted posts of all time. Unfortunately, among the smiling luminaires is a Kevin Spacey – a presence that has not aged well. An edit button can allow a quick reload of the photo, with the actor being quietly replaced by a more beloved figure – perhaps Anthony Fauci or the Encanto tiger.
Ed Balls “Ed Balls”
And then there’s the king of random tweets – that time in 2011 when Ed Balls, then the UK’s shadow chancellor, tweeted his name in an attempt to find himself. To his credit, he did not step down, securing a legacy as a good sport and a bad tweeter. An edit button could have been redrafted at the moment as Bob Dole made an offer for name recognition, using the third person to refer to himself: “Ed Bals listens to what the British want.” Or he could have gone all in, writing Ed Balls 15 more times.
The slap of the Oscars
Will Smith has to hit Chris Rock in the face …. He has no choice – JASON (@ja_s_on) February 29, 2016 The slap in the face may have come as a surprise to you – but not to Jason. Jason, JASON-style, is a Twitter user and obvious prophet who wrote on Twitter in 2016 that Will Smith “had no choice” but to hit Chris Rock in the face. If this does not impress you, imagine what Jason could do with an edit button. It’s Oscar night. Remember vaguely, six years ago, that you saw someone tweet something about Smith and Rock. After 10 minutes of crazy Googling, you land on Jason’s tweet. What once suggested that Smith hit Rock now says that Smith will slap him. Maybe he even gives the date. Jason is immediately praised as the next Nostradamus.
Unsecured funding
I’m thinking of getting the Tesla private for $ 420. Secured funding. – Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 7 August 2018 Elon Musk must have wanted an edit button when U.S. regulators sued him for a tweet that said he was “considering privatizing Tesla for $ 420.” Funding has been secured. ” The SEC claimed that the tweet violated the securities laws. In fact, funding was not secured, but Tesla shares soared. Eventually, Musk and the agency settled the case and Musk resigned as chairman of the electric vehicle company. The whole thing could have been avoided if Musk had just revised the tweet with a laughing emoji, which is generally accepted in US courts as a sign that a defendant was joking completely.
Possession of lib
When New York mayoral candidates were asked last year what they would ban if they could, their answers included desserts and sugary drinks. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro had a strong rebuke: “Especially,” he wrote on Twitter, “no one said crime.” Shapiro apparently did not know that in most jurisdictions, crime is already illegal. An editing function would allow him to clarify that he meant real crime broadcasts, which he hates to glorify the aggressive tactics of the police.
The photo of the foot
Judging by the amazing responses to posting a rash on my leg, one would think that most people have never seen a rash, especially poison ivy / oak / sumac. (or was it GiantHogWeed?) maybe people don’t go hiking anymore and never have weird rashes … – Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) August 17, 2020 In a year of endless horror, acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates sent a tweet that still managed to make a splash: a picture of her foot with a very, very disturbing rash. “Never / never walk in the forest in sandals,” he warned. The tweet proves that Twitter’s editing capability should also include a tool for blurring images that violate absolutely no platform policy, but can never be displayed.
A kinder, kinder Netflix
We were so innocent in 2017. Sure, we had Trump and Brexit, but the pandemic was years away, the US Capitol was out of control and no one thought twice about sharing Netflix codes. Even the streaming company itself endorsed this behavior, writing in a tweet that “love is to share a password”. Just five years later, everything is horrible, including Netflix, which is exploring ways to charge people for account sharing. Once the Twitter edit button appears, you can bet that the company will prioritize its marginal socialist observation for 2017, changing it to something like “love is to share a password exclusively with members of your household, otherwise we come for you “.
Twitter tweets
You can have an edit button when everyone is wearing a mask – Twitter (@Twitter) July 2, 2020 Maybe the real reason Twitter launches an edit button is that it can edit its own mistakes. Last year, the company told those looking for the feature: “You can have an edit button when everyone is wearing a mask.” It is not clear if this honorable feeling was intended to provoke good behavior or a comment similar to “when pigs fly”, but in any case, the company has just denied it.
