JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.4/themes/ui-lightness/jquery-ui.css">
<span id="someID">content<span>morecontent</span>and more content</span>
JavaScript
var span = document.getElementById('someID');
while( span.firstChild ) {
span.removeChild( span.firstChild );
}
span.appendChild( document.createTextNode("some new content") );