There’s plenty of talk out there about Twitter, and opinions abound on how to use it to your (platforming) advantage. I’ve seen a lot on how you need to get in there and get involved with hashtags (those long letter combinations with the number sign in front of them) and whether or not auto-follow is a good idea. ( “You followed me! I’ll follow you back for no reason other than you followed me first! If I follow you will you follow me back? PLEASE?!?” ) But, I haven’t seen a lot about the retweet. Maybe I’ve missed it? (If I have, leave me a link in the comments!)
The Truth About Retweets
Retweets (aka RTs) are a wonderful way to share content you find on Twitter. Take, for instance, a writing contest has just opened up and you see @soandso tweet about it. You know plenty of people out there who would LOVE to get in on this contest so you retweet it. It all goes something like this:
@soandso I just found a great writing contest hosted by That’s My Write! Check it out! http://www.linkylinkylinky.link
And then you:
@thisisyou RT @soandso: I just found a great writing contest hosted by That’s My Write! Check it out! http://www.linkylinkylinky.link
The ReTweet is a simple and easy way to share stuff you find interesting with others who might also find it interesting.
The Ugly ReTweet
Yes. They exist. It’s a rare thing to see an ugly retweet, but once you see one, you never forget. They go something like this:
@soandso Hello Tweeps!
And the ugly retweet:
@thisisyou RT@soandso: Hello Tweeps!
If @thisisyou is you… Stop. If you want to reply to @soandso, go ahead. Say hello back! Don’t just retweet it! If you want to tell people hello as soon as you get on twitter, do it! Don’t retweet someone else’s hello!
The Constant ReTweet
I’ve come across profiles that are like this and I want to hurl myself through the computer and scream, “SAY SOMETHING!!!” to the people behind the profile. All they do is retweet. You scroll down the profile and it’s RT after RT after RT. No original content. Something like this:
RT@soandso: I just found a great writing contest hosted by That’s My Write! Check it out! http://www.linkylinkylinky.link
RT@suchandsuch: Get the best writing advice EVER! http://www.linkylinkylinky.link/morelinks
RT@whozzawha: Much Ado About Everything: A Review http://www.linkylinkylinky.link/morelinksagain
RT@soandso: Hello Tweeps!
And it goes on and on and on. Don’t be that Twerp. Twitter is about talking to people in 140 characters or less. Don’t waste those characters on what someone else has to say ALL THE TIME. Pick and choose and choose carefully. Retweet the stuff you find interesting, but don’t just retweet. People follow you because they want to get to know you, so be yourself. Talk through Twitter and people will respond. Something like this:
Here you see me retweet a few people with things I find interesting. I also reply to a couple of people when I find what they say interesting, and say something myself (“I have to many books to choose from…”) This is what Twitter is about. Sharing who you are with others.
What about you? How often do you RT?
Related articles
- The Secret to Building Your Brand on Twitter (openforum.com)
- Ten Ways to Be Retweetable (youtoocanbeaguru.wordpress.com)
- Infographic: Maximize Your Tweets (womma.org)
- Retweeting Compliments: Yay Or Nay? (forbes.com)
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Interesting post. Yeah, those little horrible RTs annoy me too. I try to RT or promo someone else once a day. Yet if it’s a link I’m RTing, I make sure I’ve visited it and like the content before RTing. I notice a lot of people RT stuff they haven’t looked at.
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I only retweet what I think others will find interesting. Most of my tweets are original thoughts by me.
You’ve got the Retweet down then=)
I actually disagree. When you Old-School RT, your brand stays the same because it’s your avatar they see. But that’s me.
I’m not saying your brand changes just because you RT, but the purpose of Twitter is to engage with others in 140 characters or less, not to regurgitate what others have already said (unless you do it sparingly). If all you do is RT, you’re not creating your own content. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t RT, or that any RT on your part would be a failure on your own branding.
Thanks for stopping by and offering a great comment for discussion!
I try to add a comment before the original tweet to engage the person.
That is always a good idea as it makes the tweet more personal to you while still putting the content you found interesting out there as well.
Great post, but I have another question. Lately I’ve been seeing re-tweets, but with MT instead of RT. Do you know what that is?
MT is like RT, but the original tweet has been modified, either by adding hashtags previously not attached or changing the wording before a link. It’s short for Modified Tweet.
Great post, Kathleen! It’s taken me forever to get the hang of The Twitter (as my mom refers to it), and it’s great to have posts like this to provide some new insights and get other folks on the same page. Stellar links, as well!
Twitter is kind of intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a breeze. It’s just a matter of how you use it.