Dorsey: Twitter 'will probably never' add an edit button
In a wide-ranging Q&A for Wired, Dorsey also talked about technology in Africa and his personal habits.
No, Twitter will probably never add an edit button to modify your tweets. In a video interview with Wired published Tuesday, Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey answered a series of questions posted by users of the platform he helped create in 2006. And, of course, one of the questions was about the coveted button that would save so many headaches -- but that would give rise to others.
"The answer is no," Dorsey said to a user's question about the addition of an edit button in 2020. "We started as an SMS text messaging service. So, as you all know, when you send a text, you can't really take it back. We wanted to preserve that vibe and that feeling in the early days."
Dorsey knows that an edit button on Twitter would help correct expired links, spelling errors and has also taken into account the possibility of allowing tweets to be edited within a few minutes of being published. However, he believes that an edit button could lead to misuse such as misinformation.
"These are all the considerations," Dorsey said about the button. "But we probably never will do it."
A fan of meditation
The questions posed to Dorsey touched on other topics, including social network content policies and the executive's personal habits.
One of the questions touched on an article on CNBC about 11 habits Dorsey practices for his wellbeing. "Some of that is real," Dorsey said. "I try to meditate two hours a day. I definitely don't do sauna and ice baths daily. And I eat seven meals every week, just dinner."
Dorsey also talked about Africa as a very interesting place from which there's much to learn and analyze. "I want to have a good understanding of what's happening on the continent and how folks are thinking about technology," he said.
On advertising, Dorsey said Twitter doesn't sell user information. Another user asked about a "I don't like button" and Dorsey said he would pass the idea to his team.
Twitter didn't immediately respond to a CNET en Español request for further comments.
You can watch the entire Q&A session in the video below.
Originally published Jan. 15, 7:45 a.m. PT.
Correction, 9:06 a.m.PT: The publish day for the interview was initially wrong. It was published on Tuesday.