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How to (properly) retweet

One of Twitter’s best features is the ability to share what others are saying through the ReTweet feature.

ReTweeting is an integral part of the Twitter experience, but it needs to be handled properly. Below are some of the most common questions I get about ReTweets and some tips on how to handle them.

What is a Retweet?

Repeat a Twitter message, or Tweet, from another user. For example, if someone shares an idea or a link that you think will be useful to others in your immediate network, you can share it with them instantly.

The “RT” symbol initiates a ReTweet. It is immediately followed by the identifier of the person who wrote it first.

Here is an example:

The original Tweet from @person:

Excellent resource for authors on book marketing! url.com

Here is the message, retweeted:

RT @person Great resource for authors on book marketing! url.com

How do I retweet a message?

Twitter’s main site and third-party apps like TweetDeck offer one-click sharing. All you have to do is click the ReTweet button next to the message you want to share and the program automatically shares it with your network. You can also click the green TweetMeme button within blog posts to share them.

Sometimes, however, the ReTweet feature doesn’t work and you’ll need to do it manually. When this happens, you should copy and paste the original message into the status bar and add the “RT” and the ID of the person who first shared the thought.

Can I add my own thoughts to the retweeted post?

Yes. Add your own thoughts before the Retweeted message. That way, readers will be able to tell the difference between your thoughts and the original Tweet.

Here is an example using the above message:

great site! RT @person Great resource for authors on book marketing! url.com

You should never put your own thoughts after the retweeted message. Why? Because in the Twitterverse, that makes it look like the author of the original post had that thought, not you.

Here is an example of a bad ReTweet:

RT @person Great resource for authors on book marketing! URL.com Yes, of course.

By adding the thought “Yeah, sure” to the end of the Tweet, you change the meaning of the original message and attribute that meaning to the original author.

Can I rephrase a retweet that is longer than 140 characters?

Yes – within reason. Here are some tips on how to get it right:

Never take a Tweet out of context. Twitter users are attentive to their information and any user who takes their messages out of context will be blocked and booed. Some users will even send messages to their networks, asking others to block users who misquoted them. What does it mean to take a Twitter message out of context? If you edit the wording of a Tweet to insert your own opinion, or remove words to give the message a whole new meaning, you’re making a big faux pas on Twitter.

Never change the link provided by the original user. In my life on Twitter, I have experienced some unscrupulous marketers who replaced my links with some of their own. That’s a big no-no and he’ll beat you up for it.

Always attribute Tweets to the correct person. Never take a thought from one person’s message stream and attribute it to someone else. This is the same as misquoting in journalism. Twitter users forgive me if you do it manually and forget a letter in an identifier. If this happens, simply retweet the message with the correct identifier.

Never make up a message and attribute it to someone else. I have experienced this only once; others many times. A new follower in my network wrote a message that made little sense and attributed it to me via ReTweet. The message was so far removed from anything I write that it couldn’t even have come from a poorly worded Tweet. Fortunately, I have a dedicated Twitter network, and a branded presence on the site, so most knew it didn’t originate with me. However, I made sure others knew it wasn’t me and blocked the user.

Use standard online abbreviations so that retweeted messages fit within 140 characters. The bane of RTs is keeping them within Twitter’s 140-character limit. You can easily make messages fit together by using acronyms, such as the letter “R” for “You” or the letter “U” for “you.” Instead of spelling the names of the states, you can use the two-letter postal abbreviations. Third-party apps like TweetDeck automatically resize posts to fit the character limit.

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