It’s a battle as old as time. Or, er, at least as old as when Twitter launched “New Twitter” last year.
RT or the Retweet Button?
In this corner, you have the Old School, the way people always used to pass along a fun or hilarious or awesome or interesting or all of the above Tweet:
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“RT @Username Their Tweet
And in this corner, you have the New School, the Retweet Button, which pushes someone’s tweet into your follower’s feed:
Now, before we get into which one you should use, it’s important to understand exactly what the Retweet Button actually does. (If you use Twitter via certain third party applications, you might not have access to the Retweet button and may be limited to the old-school RT.)
Retweeting something using the button makes that Tweet appear in your followers’ feed. It’s almost as if the user is following the person you’re retweeting just for that Tweet. It looks like this:
See the little symbol there? That’s how it looks when something is Retweeted.
There’s one important distinction though: If someone already follows the person you’re Retweeting, they won’t see that you Retweeted them.
If you’re Retweeting, say, some breaking news from the New York Times, only the people who aren’t already following the New York Times will see it.
That leads us to the Big Question. Which method should you use?
Count me in favor of the New School Retweet Button in almost all instances. Here’s why.
Twitter has woven the Retweet button into the overall experience, and it’s now the way things like “Top Tweets” are determined:
Basically, the Tweets that are Retweeted using the Retweet button the most rise to the top, which is important in trending topics.
It’s also being used by social scoring measurers like Klout to track who is influencing conversations on Twitter. People can also easily see how many times their Tweets have been Retweeted:
In other words: If you want to give someone full credit for their awesome Tweet, the Retweet Button is the way to go.
When the Retweet Button was first introduced it took a while for people to get used to seeing strangers in their feed, but I think that has become less jarring over time and I’ve gotten used to looking for the Retweet symbol. Most of the time I’m happy to see those strangers’ Tweets because they might be someone I want to follow.
That said, I think the old school RT method has its place, but only when you’re adding to it and participating in the conversation. A great example of that is the Colson Whitehead Tweet above. He added to the person’s Tweet and made it something new, giving credit with the RT.
My feeling: “RT @Username Tweet” is so 2010. Time to get with the Retweet Button program.
What about you? Are you a RT’er or a Retweet Button-er?
I have no blanket method, I have to go on a case-by-case basis.
Here's the thing, I hate Facebook, but it's sort of essential to have it. So I push all my Tweets to Facebook. Often there's something I want to retweet that I'd like my Facebook friends as well as my Twitter followers to get. I don't currently know of a method to get retweets using the button to post over there (if someone has an app or something that will do it for me, by all means, share!). So in those instances, I use the old method.
The other reason I might use the old method is the example you used in the article, when I want to add my own comment to it.
Otherwise, I like the convenience of the button and the fact that it won't bug people in my feed who follow the same account by giving them duplicate tweets. One more benefit is being able to retweet longer tweets that I might have to otherwise edit down to include the RT @username within the 140 characters. Using the button retweets it exactly how it is so it always fits.
On my twitter app I can use the retweet button and add a comment if I want so I only use the button.
Great examples that really helped to clearly explain the difference.
I manual RT just out of preference. I had to it that way before the new retweet button was integrated & I still do it 'cause that's what I knew from the start. I tried the Retweet Button for a few months while still manual RT if I want to add a comment with it, but now I just manual RT & avoid using the RT Button. Only time I'd consider using the Button again is if the original tweet won't be able to fit in a manual RT.
& I think it's silly for people to get wildly upset if you manual RT them, I assume they joined when the Button was already in place or their just way to concerned about a Klout score, smh.
But to each his own.
I really don't like someone who takes my tweet for themselves. I find it very rude and I unfollow or block those who do it. If you want to comment, reply, don't be a rude thief.
I have a lot of followers. I have discovered that people who have a lot less followers with something to promote, cut & paste my tweets to further their own name, just to gain followers. They are looking to play the Twitter numbers game.
I unfollow them, then block. My 10k followers never see you again. You lose.