Threads just gave me another reason to leave X and Elon Musk behind – free edits
Editable posts, a feature that took Twitter (now X) years to add, just appeared in the fledgling Threads.
Meta’s The feature is also remarkably free, while you’ll have to pay an additional $8 per month Premium account fee for the privilege of editable tweets.
I’ve been using Threads, which you can sign up for through your Instagram account, since it launched in July. In those early days, Threads experienced explosive growth and was quickly declared ‘the next big thing’ on social media. Since then, growth has slowed and I’ve seen engagement fail. But as Twitter (X) becomes irrelevant, I’ve been advocating for Threads to pick up the pace of engagement and innovation.
Of course, Meta insists it’s not trying to be Twitter, but is steadily adding features like a Follow tab, translations and, more recently, the long-awaited web interface.
This latest feature, while relatively minor, is to me a clear sign that Meta and Threads are feeling comfortable on Twitter (X) at their own game.
Twitter has whined and whined about editable tweets for years, worried about how they could harm the platform and its reliability. No one wanted people to go back and edit tweets from days, weeks, months, or years ago. Some of those tweets are part of history. Twitter eventually found out, but only launched it for Twitter Blue subscribers (read paying Twitter users).
Threads doesn’t have the history of Twitter or, it seems, the tendency for hand-wringing. The new Edit Threads feature is free, simple, and has one important built-in control: you can only edit a thread for five minutes, after which it’s locked and your only choice is to delete it.
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This is how it worked for me in the desktop version of Threads (it has yet to appear for me in the Threads app).
I posted a topic with the word ‘test’.
After I posted it, I opened the discussion and then selected the ellipses menu on the right side of the discussion. At the top is a new option: “Edit Thread”.
I selected it and then edited it while a timer counted down to five minutes.
A small message will appear at the bottom of the screen indicating that Threads is editing the message. As with many things on Threads, this takes longer than necessary.
Within the five-minute time frame, there appears to be no limit to the number of times you can edit a thread. I edited my post twice. However, after five minutes I could no longer make any changes.
What is missing
It’s a good, simple update that’s missing one key feature: an edit summary.
Anyone reading my current Thread, which says, “This is a test of Thread’s new Thread Edit feature,” will have no idea that it previously said “test” and then “Test.”
In the case of my Thread this obviously has no consequences. But imagine someone threads something controversial and then uses Edit Thread to cover their tracks.
It’s an annoying omission, but I’m not too concerned about it. Instagram, which manages Threads development, is relatively responsive and seems to be rolling out updates quite quickly. If this is recognized as a mistake, I bet change will happen soon.
In the meantime, I’m happy with the update and wish it had come soon enough that I wouldn’t make a typo in one of my few popular Threads posts.
Now if Threads can just get started with hashtags, direct messages, and polls, I might be willing to leave Twitter (X) behind for good.