There’s been a lot of talk on Retweets and the new twitter function. See, the problem is, there are two kinds of retweets, and Twitter’s new function only deals with one of the two kinds.
Verbatim Retweet: This is the kind that Twitter’s new feature addresses. It’s when you want to reiterate the exact same point of someone who tweeted ahead of you, or when you want to pass on their point without commentary.
However, there’s also the
Retweet Plus One: This is the kind of Retweet I actually prefer. Sure, sometimes a verbatim retweet is the best. News situations, mostly. However, adding a bit of text to fore or aft, with your own opinion, or own commentary is what keeps retweets interesting and keeps them “fresh.”
Remember: Twitter is mostly a service used by individuals to track less than 100 of their friends. Having the flexibility to add text in front to say, either “This is bullshit!” or “This is awesome!” gives the original twitterer much-needed context. They’re giving you, the original twitterer information.
I recognize that the plural of anecdote is not data. However, I wanted to provide a bit of context for why I like both kinds. So, we run @welovedc, and as of this evening, we have just under 2300 followers. During the week, we get retweeted frequently, because we’re posting news. Here’s the split between Verbatim Retweets & Retweets Plus One in the last 100 @mentions:
Verbatim: 15
Retweet Plus One: 26
Those tweets that add just a little bit are also about twice as likely to be re-retweeted, which makes them doubly valuable to us as we try to get the word out about posts. Does it make me happy when our carefully crafted tweets get translated a bit to make room for RT? Not always. However, if it means we’re getting heard further & wider, and getting input from readers, which is more likely to get retweeted? I think I can live with that.
Don’t hate on the Retweet Plus One. It’s got value.
