Facebook's new edit post feature may be misused

Facebook recently launched its 'edit post' feature, allowing users to make changes to their posts after they have gone live, however, an expert believes that this may be misused.

Earlier users had to delete the entire post if they wanted to tweak anything in it, losing any comments or 'likes', but director of e Socia lMedia Kieran Hannon said that the feature increases the opportunity to 'stitch-up' friends and foes on social media.

According to the BBC, the new feature does not notify users who liked or interacted with the original post about any changes made to it but just displays the post as edited, however, the owner of the post, who tweaked it, can view the history of changes made to the post.

Hannon said the update from Facebook raises real concerns amongst individuals like business clients as a like or a comment made on a previously static piece of content is now open to misinterpretation.

A spokesman for Facebook explained that the update was intended to help people address typos or auto-correct errors, but did not comment on the potential vulnerabilities.

Matt Owen from digital business specialists Econsultancy said that it is unlikely that the feature will have any impact beyond making it easier to correct spelling mistakes.

The report said that the new edit feature does not yet apply to company pages, yet Hannon believes that it is a concern that a brand could like or comment on a post that is later updated to something that undermines or potentially damages the company's brand.