Typos Begone: Twitter Works on New Edit Feature That Will Let Users Correct Tweets

Typo-prone Twitter users can rejoice. The social network's officials are working on a new feature that will allow users to edit tweets after they've been published, according to a report from The Desk.

Twitter employees who asked not to be named told The Desk that the company has been moving toward adding the feature for months. The "edit" feature will be available for a tweet for a limited amount of time so users can make such "slight changes" as removing a word, correcting a typo or adding a word or two.

Only available once per tweet, the edit would instantly be visible on the user's Twitter feed. While it wouldn't be available on manual retweets, the edit would also show up on the timeline of anyone who retweeted the original tweet.

Twitter officials are wary of edits that will completely change the message of a tweet; for example, Twitter wouldn't want users to post a news story and get a high number of retweets and then change the tweet to an advertisement.

On the other hand, the company wants users to be able to correct misinformation quickly.  Edits could allow "updating a tweet to read 'unconfirmed,' 'confirmed,' or 'retracted,' which would certainly change the meaning of the tweet overall."

Twitter is reportedly developing an intricate "editorial algorithm" that would potentially be able to tell if a user is abusing the edit feature. The algorithm is in development and could be finished in a matter of "weeks, or months at the most."

The initial edit feature will likely be tested out by verified accounts like news organizations, celebrities and public officials.

While the edit wouldn't be a perfect solution, it would be helpful for cases when news organizations unwittingly publish erroneous information that spreads like wildfire.

One example is when National Public Radio falsely reported on Twitter in 2011 that former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords had died from a gunshot wound to the head. Other news organizations repeated the report, which showed how quickly misinformation can circulate with social media.