If you post something that your Twitter followers find particularly useful, they will share it out to their followers using a function called ReTweet (abbreviated as RT). This article covers both how to RT a tweet you like – and what happens when someone RTs one of your tweets.
How to ReTweet
Assuming you are following people who post valuable information and insights that your followers want to know – here’s how to share someone else’s tweet with your followers. Mouseover the Tweet you want to RT to see the Retweet button.
ReTweet Button
When you click the ReTweet link / button, you will be asked to confirm that you want to RT this tweet to your followers.
Confirm Intent to ReTweet
After you have clicked the Yes button to confirm the RT, it will RT this Tweet to your followers. See your Twitter stream (click Home at top of Twitter site) to see the RT you just completed.
See your RT of the original Tweet
If you decide it was a mistake to RT this, you can select the Undo button and it will no longer be visible to your followers. In this case, I don’t want to Undo, so I leave it as it is now.
Being ReTweeted
To get RTd yourself, you need a few key things: 1. a way to share your thoughts (if they happen to go longer than 140 characters) such as a blog, 2. something useful (concise, interesting, insightful, helpful) to say, and 3. some followers who are interested in the topic you wrote about.
Once you have Tweeted, if your followers think what you have written is ReTweet worthy, they will RT (as described above), sharing your Tweet with their followers. So, let’s look at how that has an exponential effect on your message getting out.
Search twitter using some of the words from your tweet. If you were RTd, you’ll see something like the RTs below.
Some of the Followers who Retweeted my Tweet
Note: The article from elearningfuture.com is still being RTd, so this is a snapshot in time, not the final reach. Here’s information I gathered about my RTers.
Public Data About the ReTweeters
A few things about this data was interesting to me. Eight of the 12 other Twitter users were not directly connected to me prior to the RT. So – they received it from one of the people I’m connected to – and then shared it out to their followers despite not having known me previously. While I have fewer than 500 followers myself, being RT worthy sent my message to 18,413 users in at least 4 countries. I am careful to call these numbers the potential reach because of the following limitations: a. we cannot assume that all followers of my RTers saw the RT, and b. we can assume that only a portion of those who did see it would find it interesting.
Below is a diagram that shows how each RT increased distribution of this article.
Mind your manners – by reciprocating when appropriate and always thanking your ReTweeters
When someone RTs a tweet of yours it is a genuine compliment. They are publicly telling you, and the people who trust them to share good quality information – that your writing is worth reading. Look for opportunities to return the favor when that twitter user posts something of interest to your followers. Always thank your RTers – so they know you appreciate their recognition of you.
Thank your ReTweeters
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Truthfully, I have never used Twitter. So knowing what is RT is out of question. But the whole idea is interesting and in a way paying a complement to the original writer, which is a great thing. Does it complement the use/ application of blogs, where the blog owners, together with their own ideas, often either just provide link to someone’s orginal article, or copy paste it to provide selected information without giving credit to the original writer? Or will blog become redundant?
All the same, good ideas need to be commended. Good work and well done!
Salil