What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
Oct
23
Written by:
2009/10/23 10:45 AM
Image author unknown
is a phenomenon that has taken the
Twitter world by storm. The retweet was not in the original functionality or feature of
Twitter. It all began when somebody added the letters "RT" to somebody else's tweet and posted it as their own. This then went viral, every one started doing it, even to the point that there are now
services that use retweeting as their primary function.
If you are not a Twitterer, you may not be familiar with the concept of retweeting. Basically, when someone updates their status on Twitter, that is called a tweet. When someone likes that status and wants to share it with others, they will add "RT" (for ReTweet) and the user's name typically and post the same update. This is usually done with Tweets containing links. This provides lots of exposure, tons of traffic and might even go viral.
Tweetmeme is one of those ReTweet service providers. You insert their ReTweet button onto an article page that lets a reader easily tweet a link to that article on Twitter. The Tweets are counted and are listed as ReTweets. Similar to other social buttons like Digg, Stumbleupon, etc. The effect is that the more retweets that are registered on that button, the more interesting the content looks at first glance.
Why is this? Well supposedly, if a user sees the article has 2,000 tweets, as opposed to 2, they can assume that a lot of people found the article interesting or informative, and of Good quality. They will then most likely continue reading.
A ReTweet button on your blog post or a RT on Twitter can provide a lot of attention for your blog post, brand or article. There is also the ability for promotion and marketing. Allowing others to do the marketing and promotion for you. ReTweets are viral by nature. A good article and blog post can potentially earn tons of traffic through the RT method.
Pros
- Retweets are viral
- Retweets show up as top-level items in FriendFeed
- A ReTweet is shared with all your followers
- Retweets typically give credit to sources
- ReTweets can lead to more followers and build relationships and communities
- Retweets can say a lot about the quality of content especially if there are many RT’s
- Retweets can lead to further conversation
- Retweets can be good for branding
- Retweets can easily be shared across multiple networks, like Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, etc.
- Retweets can provide followers with additional value in quality content
Cons
- You can’t provide a list of your retweets by themselves. You might be able to do that with a service like Tweetmeme.
- Many people consider ReTweeting as “noise” on Twitter
- Twitter's 140 character limit is a serious hindrance to RT’s
- Some people consider retweeting to be like copying other people's work for your own gain
Some people to follow and ReTweet
@Techcrunch - Technology related, and most of you know about it
@Lifehacker - Tech tips and tricks.
@problogger - All about blogging, the best blogging tips and news.
@smashingmag - Best for designers.
@mistygirlph - Web design, blogging related tweets.
@coppyblogger – Blogging, Blogging tips
@danielScocco – Daily Blog Tips
@Mashable - Social media, and tech related tweets. Most of them twitter related.
Conclusion
It all boils down to quality content. The old "content is king" cliché. The web has evolved, there is so much out there, so much rubbish. Amongst all that garbage there is still quality. If you provide something interesting, people will share it.
Like this article, go on RT it. After all it is about ReTweeting. But seriously I think you should. Lets see how many RT’s I can get out of this.
What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
Original article by Webpronews
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14 comment(s) so far...
Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
Good article, I enjoy getting retweets from my friends of either intresting website or even funny things from their timeline and thats how I have found a lot of people who I now follow.But as you say there are far too many "bots" that keyword search then retweet stuff and this kind of retweet drives me mad, maybe twitter will do something about this at some point with the upcoming "project retweet". The 140 limit on tweets is a bit of a hinderance but if it can be used in conjunction with something like twitlonger but it seems very few clients support it. I use tweetie on my iPhone and any extra long tweets are posted like this and any that other people tweet are pulled and loaded inline back into the tweet pane, very useful to get over the 140 char limit.
By Ben Gillam on
2009/10/23 11:44 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
Ben,
Thanks for the comment.
Just tweet something about making money and all of a sudden you have 100 new followers, 100 retweets. But these kind of things are meaning less.
The real meaning comes from RT from your friends and readers, like you. Thanks for the quick RT on this post by the way. Just another example how it should be done.
By Robert Bravery on
2009/10/23 11:02 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
I enjoy retweeting a lot and also like to see RTs. It might be that I miss a great tweet/link and RT brings it to my view again. And this is also why I RT messages from others.
I've found myself often following people that RT my tweets and also following people re-tweeted by someone I already follow. So in a way, it's like telling your friends to check someone or something useful/interesting, and RT just makes it quick and easy :) And they can decide whether or not they actually follow that person or link.
By Antti Kokkonen on
2009/10/23 11:09 AM
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What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
ReTweeting is a phenomenon that has taken the Twitter world by storm. The retweet was not in the original functionality or feature of Twitter. It all began when somebody added the letters "RT" to somebody else's tweet and posted it as their own. This then went viral, every one started doing it, even to the point that there are now services that use retweeting as their primary function.
# ZillionsB.com
By TrackBack on
2009/10/23 11:31 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
Hi Robert.
Another interesting and useful post - thanks!
I've been trying out Tweetmeme over on the blog, and must admit that we have been getting a number of new followers and even the rare comment or two. It does seem, like many things I guess, to be a pretty slow and steady thing though - no sign of anything going truly viral. Yet.
I personally don't have a problem with ReTweeting. Like Ben, I have found a number of links and referals from friends Retweets very good. The occassional spammer ReTweets quickly result in an "Unfollow and Block" status.
Your ReTweet button shows "RT @tweetmeme". Shouldn't it be "RT @yourname"?
By Greg on
2009/10/23 11:13 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
Hi Robert.
Another interesting and useful post - thanks!
I've been trying out Tweetmeme over on the blog, and must admit that we have been getting a number of new followers and even the rare comment or two. It does seem, like many things I guess, to be a pretty slow and steady thing though - no sign of anything going truly viral. Yet.
I personally don't have a problem with ReTweeting. Like Ben, I have found a number of links and referals from friends Retweets very good. The occassional spammer ReTweets quickly result in an "Unfollow and Block" status.
Your ReTweet button shows "RT @tweetmeme". Shouldn't it be "RT @yourname"?
By Greg on
2009/10/23 11:14 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
It's always really gratifying to see something you've said being RT'd across the web! If you can get one of the big hitters to RT something, the effect can be amazing.
By Mike CJ on
2009/10/23 11:19 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
I think it's important to RT if you have found it useful. It works almost the same way as "social bookmarking" does even though there's hundreds of spammers bookmarking their own content.
By AntonRSA on
2009/10/23 11:24 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
@Greg,
Thanks for the comment
Re retweeting button. That's a WLW addon, still trying to get it to work properly. But thanks for the heads up, though it was fixed. Will look into it again
By Robert Bravery on
2009/10/23 11:37 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
Mike,
Would'nt that be great. To ahve a @problogger or@coppyblogger to RT you. But I guess you will have to make do with me for the time being.
BTW, when you make it to A-list bloggers, remember your friends
By Robert Bravery on
2009/10/23 11:39 AM
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I love a good ReTweet!
As Mike said it really is gratifying to see your stuff being RT'd. I try and post 3-4 blogging tips a day which generally don't even go off to a website, they're just tips. When they get RT'd it's really rewarding as it shows you've made a valuable tweet.
The best kind of RT to me is a RT with some added comment as well by the RT'er (usually quite hard to do with the 140 character limit but happens on occasion!)
The amount of RT's and genuine @replies to me are the greatest measure of how valuable you are on the twitterverse.
By Sarge on
2009/10/23 11:43 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
@Robert i know what you mean on the retweet and get 100 new follows, i get the same thing when i tweet anything to do with iPhone lol
By Ben Gillam on
2009/10/23 11:51 AM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
I enjoy RT-ing and see it as a means of spreading the word about something of value or interest. It's an endorsement and a recognition of value. Never really consider RTs as noise, but I guess that would depend on the content.
Good article to which I will add to your RT count. :-)
By Jimi Jones on
2009/10/23 12:13 PM
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Re: What are your thoughts on ReTweeting?
I believe that RT's are another useful tool when it comes to marketing your blog and your brand. Long live the Retweets!
By Patty Reiser on
2009/10/23 08:31 PM
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