Twitter considering adding a clarification function to old tweets

Twitter is thinking of adding a feature that would allow users to add context and clarification to old tweets. The new feature was explained back on Valentine's Day in San Francisco at a Goldman Sachs event.

Jack Dorsey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of Twitter said the function would allow a conversation around controversial posts:

"The other thing that we’re seeing more broadly within the culture right now in this particular moment is people quote-unquote ‘being canceled’ because of past things that they’ve said on Twitter or various other places in social media. There’s no credible way to kind of go back and clarify or even have a conversation to show the learning and the transition since.”

The Kevin Hart and James Gunn Hollywood controversies

Dorsey may have been thinking of the tweets of Kevin Hart and James Gunn. Gunn was removed from directing a third installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy after some Twitter users found pedophilia jokes he had tweeted. Hart backed out of an Oscar hosting job after old homophobic tweets he had sent were discovered. Both could have attached an apology or explanation to the tweets.

How would the clarification function work?

Of course anyone can comment on their own tweets including old troublesome ones. Sending a tweet quoting yourself is a way of providing context for old quotes. However these comments would not be within the original quote itself but part of a thread.

However, Dorsey's proposal would see the comments included within the original tweet and would not be separated out.

Dorsey said: “How do we enable people to quickly go back or to any tweet, whether it be years back or today, and show that original tweet—kind of like a quote retweet, a retweet with comment—and to add some context and some color on what they might have tweeted or what they might have meant? Like you wouldn’t be able to retweet the original tweet, for instance. You would just show the clarification, you would be able to retweet the clarification, so it always carries around with it that context. That’s one approach."

The clarification function could be useful to reporters and others to clarify tweets that spread rapidly during breaking news events. The clarification could add more information or correct the tweet on the basis of new information.

Dorsey did not say exactly when the clarification function would be introduced.

Users have long been asking for an edit function on Twitter

The announcement is perhaps the result of many users asking for some time that Twitter introduce an edit function. This would allow users to go back and correct typos, left out words, etc. The clarification function is perhaps thought of as a less controversial substitute for an edit function. It seems a rather awkward way of correcting typos and other mistakes. One can already do that by adding a comment on your tweet. That is what I do now. However, it would be much easier if you could just go back to the original tweet and alter the text.

Dorsey has not yet decided it seems that he will actually introduce the clarification function saying: “Not saying that we are going to launch that but those are the sorts of questions we are going to ask.” Maybe he should ask himself about introducing a delete function.