Twitter has confirmed it is working on an edit button and it will be tested in the coming months.

In a tweet posted from the social media giant’s communications account, the company said it has been developing the feature since last year.

The announcement came after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is Twitter’s single biggest shareholder, sent out a poll on the platform asking users if they wanted an edit button.

More than 4.4 million people responded, with 73.6% voting for the function and 26.4% voting against it.

“Now that everyone is asking… yes, we’ve been working on an edit feature since last year!” Twitter said.

“No, we didn’t get the idea from a poll we’re kicking off testing within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible.”

Twitter Blue, the platform’s premium monthly subscription service, operates in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with users paying to get access to premium features and app customisations.

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At the moment, if any user wants to correct a tweet, they must delete it, losing any replies, retweets, or likes it has received, and re-post it.

The new feature will enable people to make the changes without any of the interaction data being lost.

‘Edit could be misused’ without appropriate controls

The company’s head of consumer product, Jay Sullivan, said it has been the “most requested Twitter feature for many years”.

“People want to be able to fix (sometimes embarrassing) mistakes, typos and hot takes in the moment,” he added.

However, there have been concerns raised about how the edit function will work and it being “misused”.

Mr Sullivan said: “Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation.

“Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work.”

He added that Twitter will be “actively seeking input and adversarial thinking” before launching the feature.

“We will approach this feature with care and thoughtfulness and we will share updates as we go,” he tweeted.

Read more: Twitter bans US politician’s personal account over COVID-19 misinformation

“This is just one feature we are exploring as we work to give people more choice and control over their Twitter experience, foster a healthy conversation, and help people be more comfortable on Twitter.”

On April Fool’s Day, the company’s communications account said it was working on an edit button, but many users believed it was a joke.

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