Facebook edits (K2 #72)

Question of the Week
I just noticed that I made a mistake in a Facebook status that I wrote. Can I fix it or is it there forever?
— Chimi, housewife in Thimphu

Answer
Dear Chimi,

You’re in luck! Up until recently, there was no way to edit posts. While comments to a post could be edited, Facebook did not allow editing the posts themselves. So once you updated your status, there was no way to fix any errors or add information to your status. The only way out of a mistake would be to delete a post, but that would also delete all the witty comments and all those precious “likes” that your post accumulated. Users therefore often decided to keep the post and live with the embarrassment.

A couple of weeks ago, however, Facebook made the change that many users have been waiting for. You can now edit any post, from the browser or from the Facebook app on Android. The Facebook app for iOS will have this feature “soon”. Your guess about “soon” is as good as mine.

To edit a post from your browser, hover the mouse above the post. You will see a small icon of a pencil or arrow at the top-right side of the post. Click on the icon, then select ‘Edit’ or ‘Edit Post’. You will then be able to edit the post - add, delete, and change text - to your liking. Once you’re finished, click on ‘Done Editing’. The post will now show a small link with the title ‘Edited’. When you (or anyone else who can view the post) clicks that link, the complete version history of the post will be shown. This means that savvy users can still find your original mistake if they look really hard...

Similarly, from the Android app, click on the small arrow at the top-right side of the post, then select ‘Edit Post’. Make your desired change, then click on ‘Save’. That’s it.


Some users fear that editing a post can cause trouble. For example, say you leave a comment on a post that your friend wrote. Later, your friend edits the original post in a way that makes your comment look irrelevant, or even foolish. Still, the advantages are probably worth that risk. Or at least, Facebook seems to think so.

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