“What’s the most important thing you want to see Twitter improve or create?” asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in 2016. The top answer? An edit button. Kim Kardashian West (59.5 million followers), in particular, is obsessed with the idea of one and has reportedly petitioned Dorsey via email and face-to-face. Donald Trump would probably also appreciate the function, given his propensity to tweet things such as “covfefe”.

Now, Dorsey has spoken (in an interview with the US podcast host Joe Rogan) about how an edit button might work. If Twitter were to implement the feature, Dorsey says the platform would most likely allow a “5- to 30-second delay” for a tweet to send in order for the edit to be made, so as not to lose the “real-time nature” of tweeting.

Part of the appeal of an edit option is that users know the pain of a tweet becoming very popular – perhaps even going viral – and then spotting a glaring typo. In this instance, an edit button becomes a very attractive prospect. It also wouldn’t be unprecedented on social media: both Facebook and Instagram (owned by Facebook) allow corrections to be made with statuses and captions after the content has gone live.

But in the era of fake news, is an edit button really such a good idea? It would probably also prove inefficient, in the face of screen grabs. The Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, for instance, deleted a tweet yesterday in which she confused two British Asian women, but that makes little difference when a jpeg can be shared instead. Dorsey also mentions that he would ensure that the original tweet was still accessible (which is good, because users wouldn’t be able to deny their original statements – helpful in the case of aforementioned fake news and also rife abuse).

Still, Dorsey has had two years to introduce the feature since he asked his question about what users most wanted – and has already introduced the other features that users requested (such as bookmarks and a mute function). Perhaps Dorsey will make a final decision on his next Myanmar retreat. He probably wishes he could edit his much-criticised tweets about that.