Twitter masterclass: Advanced tweeting

By Rich Trenholm on 10 February 2009, 9:49am

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Re-tweet speak

Re-tweeting is a fairly new concept, and a slightly controversial one. The idea is that, if you see a tweet that you think is funny or interesting enough to appeal to your followers, you broadcast it again. Think of it as like forwarding an email.

To re-tweet, simply hit the reply arrow by the original tweet, then add 'RT' before the username. This will show up in your feed as one of your tweets, but with a link to the original tweeter. Remember that the 'RT' and the original tweeter's username will use up some of your precious 140 characters.

Some argue that re-tweeting adds nothing to the conversation. A re-tweet may introduce your followers to someone they haven't encountered before, but this is less likely if you're re-tweeting someone popular, or if you and your followers all have a similar network. On the other hand, it's people commenting on or repeating what they have seen elsewhere that makes things go viral.