Twitter is a publishing platform. Run and used by human beings.

Most publishing platforms allows us to make things and then post those things to the internet.

Tumblr. WordPress. Instagram. Blogger. Facebook. Drupal. Medium. LinkedIn. Your company’s custom CMS. Hell, even Path. Pinterest. Twitter. Publishing platforms. Run and used by human beings.

Virtually every publishing platform recognizes that we’re human beings. That’s why they allow us to edit the things we publish. Tumblr. WordPress. Instagram. Blogger. Facebook. Drupal. Medium. LinkedIn. Your company’s custom CMS. Hell, even Path. Pinterest. Publishing platforms. Run, used, and editable by human beings.

Per the human condition, sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes we need to update people on a topic or event they’re following. Sometimes we need to add more information for clarity. Sometimes we say something very, very stupid and need to make amends. There are zillions more reasons like this. Because we’re human beings.

Twitter is not unique among its peers.

The way people use Twitter to publish things they say or create is not unique among its peers.

The ways and reasons people quote or otherwise use Twitter content outside of Twitter are not unique among its peers.

Virtually every other publishing platform recognizes that we’re human beings, and that we have zillions of reasons to need and want to edit the things we publish.

The only thing unique about Twitter is that its decision makers don’t get it.

Addendum

Know something that is unique about one of the many platforms that recognizes we need to edit the things we publish? As far as I can tell, Facebook is the only that offers any kind of ‘paper trail.’

When someone edits a Facebook post or comment, an “Edited” link appears on it somewhere, usually near the timestamp. Tap it, and you’ll see a list of not just the current and original versions, but any and all iterations in between.

That’s frigging smart. All publishing platforms should do that. Especially Twitter.

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