Instagram added the ability to edit comments, a much-requested feature update that will address a key frustration in the app.
The new edit option will be accessible below published comments in-stream. Tapping on the “Edit” option will open a new pop-up that essentially re-opens a comment for revision.
Instagram said in a press release sent to SMT that users will be able to edit their comments within 15 minutes of posting, and there’s no limit on how many times users can edit a comment within that time frame.
Instagram added that only the text of comments can be edited. Users won’t be able to update any image elements. “Once a comment is edited, people will be able to see that it was edited, but they will not see the version history,” Instagram said.
Comment editing has long been a contentious issue for social platforms, due to concerns that people could use this to alter the meaning and context of their replies, which could potentially lead to misleading engagement metrics. As an example, if a user posted a comment saying that they agree with the content of a post, and that comment then got a lot of likes, the commenter could then edit their reply to say the opposite, which could then suggest that a lot of people disagree with the implication of the post.
This is a basic example, but that’s the main concern, aside from systematic process updates.
Twitter, for example, resisted years of requests to add an edit option due, it said, to the brief nature of Tweets. That meant that even the slightest of changes could significantly alter the context of the original message. In turn, editing could cause problems for Tweets that people had Retweeted, or Tweet embeds on other sites.
Instagram post replies are less susceptible to this type of manipulation, but the general concern is that editing could facilitate problematic abuse of the system.
Once Twitter became X, the platform enabled editing, and it doesn’t seem to have led to any major concerns. Threads also added post editing without any huge dramas, so it seems like editing comments adds functionally without undermining platform integrity.
Instagram said the new reply editing function is being rolled out to all users.
