Soon you might be able to ‘edit’ your tweets before posting on Twitter. But there’s a catch

What essentially separates Twitter from other platforms and social media sites is the real-time nature of the platform. And Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey doesn't want to do away with this. 

There are a host of features that microblogging site Twitter offers to its legion of users, including the option of posting short and engaging tweets, photos, videos, and even conducting polls. But editing a tweet after hitting send is not one of them.

This feature (or the lack thereof) has been a hot topic of debate among the Twitterati for some time now. In fact, during his India visit, Twitter Co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey unfailingly brought up the topic asking a hall full of IIT students if they should add the “edit” option for tweets.

“If a person likes your tweet, it’s because s/he likes the idea you are sharing. If you edit that idea, the ‘like’ given might not be for that particular one,” Dorsey had said at the time. His scepticism was evident. However, his most recent interview indicates a change of heart. He recently talked about “looking at” the idea of allowing users to edit their tweets.

Hinting Twitter might be working towards introducing the feature to its users, Dorsey, however, went on to add a condition. The catch is that there will be a time frame involved, meaning one can edit a tweet but not indefinitely as that might lead to misuse of the feature on the platform.

"You could build it as such so maybe we introduce a 5-second to 30-second delay in the sending. And within that window, you can edit," Dorsey told comedian Joe Rogan during a podcast interview.

While Dorsey’s opinion may not be a popular one, shared by all the dedicated fans of the microblogging site, he does have a pretty good reason behind this. What essentially separates Twitter from other platforms and social media sites is the real-time nature of the platform. If this aspect is taken away and users are allowed to edit tweets for a longer duration, it just takes the “conversational flow out of it”, suggests Dorsey.

Imagine editing a 280-character tweet over and over again – doesn’t exactly sound like a conversation-starter.