Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc, conducted a Twitter poll on Monday, asking people if they wanted an edit button.
The poll comes after Musk announced earlier in the day that he had purchased a 9.2 percent interest in Twitter for roughly $3 billion, making him the microblogging site’s largest shareholder.
Musk questioned in a tweet, “Do you want an edit button?” and added a poll as well.
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
Musk’s decision, which was announced in a regulatory filing, comes after he tweeted that he was “seriously considering” creating a new social media platform, while challenging Twitter’s commitment to free expression.
He also opened a poll asking Twitter users if they want an edit button, which has been a long-awaited feature for the social networking platform. Here is how people reacted to Musk asking if they wanted an edit button.
More than 1.1 million people voted in the first two hours after the poll was launched, with over 75% of them favoring an edit option.
Musk asked if the Twitter algorithm should be open source in another poll last week. “The choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open to everyone,” former CEO Jack Dorsey said.
Since joining Twitter in 2009, Musk has amassed over 80 million followers and has used the network to make various announcements, including dangling a Tesla go-private transaction that got him in hot water with authorities.
Here's my argument against an edit button: What if a tweet goes viral, lots of retweets & millions of impressions, & then the author completely changes the meaning? Not just a grammatical fix, but a TOTAL ideological change? Or shameless self-promote?
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) April 5, 2022
No. Too dangerous.
Someone could tweet:
“I like humans.”Then receive a lot of responses to the tweet, only to change it to:
“I like to eat humans.”If anyone has responded to a Tweet, it shouldn’t be editable.
— Jeremy Padawer (@JeremyCom) April 5, 2022
Many people believed that an edit button would make people edit their tweets after they get viral.
Under two conditions. It’s only available for a few minutes, 5-10 mins. And when an edit is made, there’s a small link that shows the edit. This keeps a public record but allows the tweeter the ability to fix a simple mistake and not re-notify their followers with a new tweet
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) April 5, 2022
Editing is good, but it is much better if it has time For example, it can be edited for two minutes after sending, but not always! If the edit is permanent, it is a good tool for politicians to escape
— زهرا (@zahra8934) April 5, 2022
Some people were onboard for the editing button but along with a few conditions or restrictions on it.
Some people believed that he was misusing his status and fortune as a billionaire.
You buy 10% of Twitters shares and instantly think you run the show… classic rich billionaire thinking they run the world, this is why we shouldn't have billionaires, we need to outlaw them and give their money to people who actually work hard
— Nomad (@Nomad_1x) April 5, 2022
There were a few other responses as well.
Can you poll to see if everyone want to be regulated by the rather ominously sounding 'healthy conversations' policy, please? I'm not sure what it even means or how they can possibly monitor it.
— .Dear Aunty (@dearaunty) April 5, 2022
What a horrible proposition. Much of the point of twitter is to exist as a record, as a means of gauging the evolution of thought, and to take to task those persecuting others for small mistakes. You would be doing away with one of the few tools we have to confront the hypocrites
— Paula Schmitt (@schmittpaula) April 5, 2022
No, Twitter would be boring if people can edit all their Tweets. Give people maybe 5 edits per month instead or something.
— Chris Tomlinson (@TomlinsonCJ) April 5, 2022
Following Elon’s tweet, Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal urged users to “vote carefully.”
The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully. https://t.co/UDJIvznALB
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 5, 2022
Here are some responses to Parag Agarwal’s tweet.
Bhai tu CEO hai
Apne hi boss ka tweet copy paste 😂https://t.co/5GP8JAk3yO— Shweta✨ (@notSoSweetLove) April 5, 2022
Because he bought stock? Most people will say yes, but a president’s acct is kept as an official record. They shouldn’t be able to edit. Plus if we report a tweet if they change it before it’s reviewed they’ll get away with even more than they do now. Don’t let Elon run twitter.
— MB (@sugarcubedog2) April 5, 2022
Parag are you basically just letting elon do your job now?
— John W. Rich (Wealthy) (@Cokedupoptions) April 5, 2022
So if I understand this, Elon is Twitter god and everyone must follow him to fully participate in the twitter community and how it’s shaped? This is obviously an attempt to change Twitter and force users to engage with its owner. Some free open community you got here now.
— Existential Bunny 🗽🌻🇺🇦 (@hunnybun100) April 5, 2022
