There is evidence that Twitter will add a “undo tweet” feature, but whoever wants to will have to pay: application researcher Jane Manchun Wong has discovered a sign-up screen linked to the resource. The ability to remove tweets also appeared in a survey asking Twitter users about the features they would be willing to pay for, as well as the application code, and CNET today received confirmation from Twitter that it is, in fact, being tested.
It is not known when it will be widely available, but it is understandable that Twitter is considering reserving the feature for its potential subscription service: what is better bait than a “keep out of trouble” button?
For its part, Twitter has not said whether the feature will be limited to paying customers – it is possible that it is not yet well advanced in development for this decision to be made.
It is also important to note that the design of the button suggests that it works in a similar way to Gmail’s “undo sending” button, where the site simply waits a few seconds before actually sending the message. In other words, it is not same the edit button that people call for, but it can at least take you part of the way to that functionality (albeit without the part where someone else can say you made a mistake).
If Twitter is open to suggestions for the undo button, here’s one: make it appear if someone blows up the offensive tweet warning, giving them a few more seconds to reconsider. It’s hard to say if that would fix Twitter’s overall atmosphere, but it’s probably worth a try, right?