If you like something on Twitter that you want to share with your followers, one of the easiest tools is the ReTweet (aka RT). By ReTweeting, you’re passing along comments, quotes and links that you believe other people will find interesting.
The question is whether there’s value in the ReTweet, or whether it’s just lazy Twitter-ing. If, for example, you feel the need to ReTweet because you’re not creative enough to put together your own 140-character (or less) message, what does that say about your approach to Twitter?
In some respects, it’s like writing a blog post that features a short intro sentence you write, and then a long quote from another blog. That’s not blogging but parroting.
So, what is the purpose of the ReTweet and why do people do it?
In theory, the ReTweet is a re-broadcast mechanism. If someone believes an update just has to be shared, hitting ReTweet is a quick and dirty way to spread the word. As for why people do it, it may be because it’s a no muss, no fuss, no thought required activity.
But what about the value of the ReTweet? Does it really provide your followers with something they need? Would there be more value in an original Tweet or, perhaps, responding to a Tweet?
Personally, I’m not a big ReTweeter unless there’s a really compelling reason to do it (e.g. an emergency, natural disaster, missing person). Frankly, there’s enough Twitter clients, search, trend and aggregation tools within Twitter for people to discover interesting links and comments without doing a ReTweet.
If you’re into ReTweeting or want to get your updates ReTweeted, here are some thoughts from Open Forum, Mashable and Matt Singley.
More: There are lots of tools to track updates attracting the most ReTweets. Among them is DailyRT, which has been described as a Digg for ReTweets. (Mashable has a mini-review)
4 Comments
Hey Mark, thanks for linking over to me. Good thoughts here, I agree with what you are saying…I think there is too much retweeting going on. Personally, I like to see content produced, not just repeated over and over. That said, some of the best original content I have found has been from other people retweeting links. I think there is a place for it, but like anything else, can be overdone.
Matt,
Fair points. I discovered your blog while doing some research on RTs. You're doing some excellent stuff so I've become a regular reader.
cheers, Mark
umm this post is weak. the points are weak and snobbish even. If this crappy article wasn't RTed I would never have found it. RT is basically like telling a friend. If I saw a movie and liked it would I go home and not tell anyone? NO. I would call and share. Maybe even talk then into seeing it. Only to have them get back to me and let me know they thought the movie sucked… like this post.
Think a lil bigger next time and see things from multiple sides and I hope no one ever RTs your crap again. Or maybe the next post will be epic and I will have missed it because your posts are not important like an emergency, natural disasters or missing person.
Hope you have a great day and re think your strategy.
I did not retweet anyone. if I need to say something about what say another person I prefer do it in my own words. Twitter for me – the way to express my own opinion.
One Trackback
[...] Een vraag waar ik die avond echter mee bleef zitten en die helaas niet geadresseerd werd tijdens de groepsdiscussie, heeft te maken met het feit dat ik slechts een simpel doorgeefluik ben. Ik voeg niets concreets toe aan een tweet, niets oorspronkelijks. En mijn netwerk dat netjes op hun beurt mijn retweet doorstuurt naar hun eigen netwerken geven geen feedback. En dat is toch iets wat ik mis aan de retweet. “But what about the value of the ReTweet? Does it really provide your followers with something they need? Would there be more value in an original Tweet or, perhaps, responding to a Tweet?” [...]