Twitter promises edit button 'when everyone wears a mask'

In another bid to persuade people to practice preventive measures against the novel coronavirus, Twitter has now teased people with the launch of the long sought-after edit button — which will enable users to edit tweets after publication — only after "everyone wears a mask".

Despite persistent requests, users are unlikely to ever get an edit button.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey had said earlier this year that the company would “probably never” introduce the feature as it may cause users to inadvertently spread misinformation, according to a report published in Bloomberg Technology.

Following the announcement by the micro-blogging site, a few Twitteratis reacted with amusement while others urged the social media company to stay way from politics and raised questions on the effectiveness of wearing masks.

Also read: Twitter tests feature asking you to open article before retweeting

Recently, in order to  curtail the rapid spread of misinformation that is often caused when people forward and share articles without reading them, Twitter had tested a new feature which asks users if they would like to open the article before retweeting it.

According to engadget, the feature which is currently being tested on Android phones should "help foster informed discussion".

The micro-blogging site added that it doesn’t have a timeline for bringing the feature to iOS.

"Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it," a tweet read.

"To help promote informed discussion, we're testing a new prompt on Android –– when you Retweet an article that you haven't opened on Twitter, we may ask if you'd like to open it first," it added.

"Headlines don't tell the full story," reads the prompt. "Want to read this before Retweeting?"

The prompt will appear if the user does not open the article on Twitter's platform before clicking retweet. However, if they read the piece before or just want to share it anyway, nothing is stopping them from hitting the retweet button and sharing the tweet on the social platform.