Habitually Good

I have been wanting for sometime to start writing about Twitter. Not because there is a lack of material out there about Twitter; but because as I learn more about this communication medium, I want to share my impressions of it.

Also because there are still millions out there who have no idea what Twitter is, and so the more that is written about it, the better.

Today’s topic is ReTweeting.

Of course, I assume that you already know enough about Twitter to know how to post a Tweet. A ReTweet is exactly what it says. You take a Tweet by someone else, and you resend that as your own Tweet (with a small difference).

You prefix RT to the message that you are retweeting along with the @username of the user who originally posted the message.

Here’s an example of a Tweet followed by its ReTweet (click the image to see the actual Tweet on Twitter:

And here’s the same Tweet retweeted (again, click the image to see the retweet on Twitter):

Why ReTweet?

There are several reason for why you should ReTweet:

• You have seen a Tweet on Twitter which you think you would like to share with your followers as well. At the same time it is important to attribute it to the original Tweeter.
• The same reason for why you forward certain emails to friends.
• When you retweet someone’s Tweet, then you are paying them a complement. It says, I liked your Tweet and I think it’s worth telling more people about it.
• It is the same as a Digg (on digg.com) or a Thumbs Up (on StumbleUpon).

From a social marketing perspective, it is imperative that you are writing Tweets which have a potential to be retweeted. This is one the best ways to get a very wide audience to read what you tweeted in the shortest time. Therefore, it makes sense that you cultivate a culture of retweeting in your followers.

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