Editing is now allowed for Facebook posts

Facebook finally lets you edit your posts everywhere and look like less of an idiot

By Jam Kotenko September 27, 2013

sound the alarms facebook has finally allowed us to edit our posts fb — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s been over three months since we first broke the news about being able to edit posts in Facebook, and we’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for the feature to be rolled out to the masses. Well, good news… take-backsies are now possible on the social network because finally, the highly coveted function is available beginning this week.

According to a Facebook spokesperson, post editing has actually been available on the Web for some time, but last Thursday Facebook for Android also enabled the feature – you can edit your posts and comments after you’ve shared them without having to repost. Gone are the days of embarrassing typos and auto-correct situations; by just tapping the down arrow on your post and choosing “Edit post,” you have the luxury of correcting textual mistakes to the posts that populate your Timeline.

The feature works on almost any Facebook post type, including status updates, links, photos, and videos. We were, however, able to pinpoint some restrictions when it comes to link posts. Here’s how the Edit post function looks like on Facebook’s Web platform:

You can edit the text you type for link posts, but it looks like you can't change the link. — You can edit the text you type for link posts, but it looks like you can’t change the link. Image used with permission by copyright holder

However, the edit function doesn't seem to appear with links shared through outside sources, like YouTube. — However, the edit function doesn’t seem to appear with links shared through outside sources, like YouTube. Image used with permission by copyright holder

Clearly, the ability to edit previous Facebook posts is a powerful option to have, and it has both positive and negative effects. For instance, aside from being able to fix grammatical and typographical errors, people can easily claim one thing and then a completely different thing later on, making it an easy tool to use for debauchery and blackmail. If you’re thinking of setting your frenemy up by changing a post of yours they liked or commented on to something incredibly racist or humiliating, you may want to rethink that – any post that has undergone delayed modification will brandish a small type that says “Edited,” and when that is clicked on, it reveals the editing history of the post in question.

Facebook will show your corrections. Image used with permission by copyright holder

The updated Android app that includes the edit post capability is now available in the Play Store, while an update for the iOS app is still in the works.

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