This should come as a major relief for Facebook users who might want to take back what they just posted from their mobile phones.
Facebook is finally rolling out the ability to edit status updates, starting with the app for Google's Android operating system, tech site Mashable reported.
But Mashable said editing did not appear immediately enabled on the Android devices it experimented with, though it added Facebook had "confirmed" the editing feature will roll out to Facebook users on the web and Android devices "over the next day."
As for iPhone and iPad users, Mashable said the editing feature might be pushed out "in the next update."
With the latest app, users will see an option to "Edit Post" when they click on the drop-down arrow in the top-right part of a post.
For autocorrect
TechHive.com said the feature is focused on undoing the potential damage of autocorrect.
It quoted a Facebook spokeswoman who told it via email that the feature can be used “if you notice a typo or get tripped up by auto-correct.” (http://www.techhive.com/article/2049980/facebook-allows-edits-for-typos-and-botched-autocorrects.html)
'Potentially dicey territory'
Mashable said editing posts was potentially dicey territory for Facebook, since a user can fool friends into liking a post, only to change that post later on.
"A user could conceivably write, 'Who likes ice cream?' and get hundreds of Likes and affirming comments, then edit the post to read, 'Who wants to beat up some cats?'" it said.
But Facebook had since addressed this by marking an edited post and allowing users to access the history of an edited post.
Its rival Google+ has a similar mechanism.
"It's likely Facebook examined all the potential abuses and concluded the risk in letting users alter posts was minimal," Mashable said.
Besides, it said a user who would mislead followers or friends with a maliciously edited post "would likely soon find themselves with few followers or friends of any value."
It added the feature will be more valuable to journalists, who can make corrections without having to delete and rewrite entire updates, and losing conversation threads in the process.
— TJD, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
