Twitter’s RTs: Why you shouldn’t use them

Why use the new RT method when the old method, which is built into countless Twitter clients, works perfectly well already? With such a rigid implementation of RT, most people will likely just ignore it and keep doing what they’ve been doing for years already.

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Totally agree! I much prefer to add a personal note at the end of RT’s (space permitting) – to include my thoughts on the original tweet. The good news is, there is nothing stopping us from using the “old” way.

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Excellent article! I also agree, and I hope that the TwitEOs pick up on and act accordingly to all of the dissatisfied feedback.

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Agreed. Typically I like to add a personal note to my RT’s -some of them, however, just go as a straight RT as additional information is not needed. If I want to add a comment, I’ll use the RT feature through Tweetvisor where you can still alter.

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I miss not being able to leave a message with the auto RT, but sometimes you don’t leave a message and just “RT @” This feature allows this, and you do not lose “characters in the count” by needing to add the RT @name.of.twit.

That part is a good thing, I use both forms of RTing

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I totally disagree here, its easy to use (one click) of a button. I like the fact that it looks programmed – Without programmers we’d have no Twitter…

Personally i never wanted to add my comments after a RT, but that’s just me..We have a choice here though as everyone has mentioned.

Hey not to be rude here, but do you think Twitter, or Google really cares what you think? Time and time again they have gone against the will of people, time and time again folks. Just something to think about We’re all in between a double edged sword, sooner you realize that the better i think..

Just my $0.02 here, glad that you all have new writers..

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Everything you say has validity.
But you can still RT the old way.
So they have added another way to RT.
Now we have two ways to RT.
The new way actually has some good features.
It prevents getting multiple RT’s from other people
Twitter blog goes into detail on other reasons.
So RT options have increased = good thing

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Well, I agree with you but I don’t see the new RT feature very bad. Because sometime if you don’t have to enter any additional comment or any hashtag with the tweet you can use the new RT feature. But if you have to write something then you can RT manually.

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Completely agree with you Fernando.
Hate when I find twitter users in my timeline that I don’t follow and start thinking if my account has been hacked until I found that Twit was ReTweeted by someone I follow.
I like to add content to my RTs, it’s a way of giving value and personal opinions to my dear followers (one thing I’ve learned from you).
Congratulations on your article and I surely hope that Twitter is listening.

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Totally agree.. @Jack @Biz are you hearing this

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I don’t RT often, the content has to be something that grabs me, somthing of substance. When I do RT, I like to add a hashtag or short comment, if possible. I find myself going back to the old way of RTing instead of using the automated feature. I originally disliked seeing the RTs of those I didnt follow, and voiced my displeasure but have found that I’ve become accustomed to it.

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I’m going to disagree here based on two things. First if you think about it the new RT feature is similar to FriendFeed’s “like” feature, it just displays content that someone you follow finds interesting. Second, if you would like to add your own thoughts then just quote the tweet like ‘ your thoughts “their tweet” (via @someone).”

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A quick comment roundup!

@Ahad Bokhari: If Google and Twitter are doing their work properly they will be listening. I have it for personal experience (check my personal blog) that one individual can change things. On the other hand this post was directed to the users not to Twitter and this is about freedom of choice not about the wrong or the right way to do it. Thank you for your comment!

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@Justin Twitter is not FriendFeed and that is something that we could discuss forever My personal opinion is that “Like” is just too narrow to describe something. Did someone really “Like” that post describing the bomb attacks in Pakistan? No, they thought it was interesting, shocking, they wanted to share it but I don’t think they “Like”d it. Also why should users change the way they do things? Its working and it was created by users for the users. Simple and effective

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Thank you everyone for the comments either you agree or disagree with the content of the post. It means a lot!
Keep them coming!

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Twitter isn’t FaceBook. By RT’ing something, I’m not necessarily endorsing it – I may be slamming it. That’s where comments and hashtags come in. Someone RT’d Palin’s book tour shit by the new method. Until I realized that it was the new garbage RT, I thought she was somehow spamming me. Do. Not. Want. The person who sent the RT is as important, if not more so, than the original source. The new sanitized method takes the Rt’er and relegates them to a microscopic byline underneath. Feh.

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I love the RT button, because it makes everything easier…but I do miss the ability to add my personal comments. You know how if you hit the reply button, it fills in the text field with the name of the person? maybe they should do that. when you hit the rt button, fill the box with the rt so it can be edited. Of course that means, if you are looking at something at the bottom of the page, you have to scroll up.

So, I think the best compromise here is one of those buttons with menus. When you just click on the button, it’ll RT for u with no editing. When you hit the little triangle next to the button, it brings up a menu with a text box with the retweet content that you can edit. Just a thought

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@Fernando No problems..Love to read what others have to say. This post is still from your perspective, not everyone thinks the same way. Dave Winer, Scobleizer all the big boys on Twitter (who also add the most *value) like the new feature.

It’s certainly a toss up, and i’m glad we can speak our own minds..To set the record straight here, I never said there’s a wrong or right way

Said that from my own experience with applications, features should always be at a minimal – but the app itself should make life easier for the user..

Pakistan post? Wow i missed out on that one. In any case nice to talk about this with open minded peeps, good stuff!

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i don’t like the new RT feature. i find it extremely confusing the way that it is setup. i am using tweetdeck to do my RTs the old way

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I prefer to add a personal note so after using it a few times, I quit and went back to the old method.

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I like the new RT and glad that they left the old RT as well. I belong to digg and I had alot of my digg friends unhappy because I wasn’t RTing their tweets. What many of them did not know was that I have MS and it was really hard to figure out how to put it all together like they did. With the new RT it allows me to participate with my digg friends and hopefully make some of them happy. So the RT although automated can be a useful tool for people that are like me they can always follow it with a separate tweet right after if they needed to. So its not all bad.

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Another comment roundup!
Thank you for all your comments and keep them coming!

@Ahad: Of course that this post is from my perspective, it has my name all over it I could not care less, in all honesty about what the “big boys” think. I have a mind of my own. Everyone, i mean everyone, adds value to Twitter, that is why they have followers. Those old vertical models don’t make any sense anymore. This is about you, the user, and nothing else.

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New RT feature debate comes back to what good customer service means “Listen to your customer!”.

However good a new feature is to the owners of a social network, a retail shop, a multinational, even for celebrities, if the majority of your customers are unhappy, better listen up. Customers’ constant disapproval are demonstrated through the ultimate power of simply walking away.. and sometime to your competitors.

ns,

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Just to add to my previous comment, I have a minor +1,500 followers but very grateful to my existing followers because my tweets get RT’d everyday.

Nonetheless, not one single follower actually have used the new RT button to RT my tweets yet I know most of them have the RT button by now. Only one RT using the new RT button is mine when I tried it out. And I’ve gone back using old RT like most of my followers. True example of voting by simple power of walking away

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@Happysoul Thank you for your comments. I do think that a following is never big or small. It’s your following. This is not about numbers its about interactions and the relationship you establish with others.

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Not being able to comment is what I miss about RT’g. Twitter missed the boat on this one. They missed an opportunity to develop an app that could have been powerful.

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I tried the new retweet button, but I felt like it was impersonal. I am glad you wrote this article.

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Ditto on the impersonal comment. On the upside, I did find someone new and interesting to follow through one of the RT’s of one of my followers (sorry kind of wordy…its late:)

Thank you for your very informed opinions!

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I agree with your four points. I used the new Retweet button for a while when it first came out, and that was only a few days after I joined Twitter for the first time. I’ve stopped using it because I like to add something to the RTs.

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The new RTs take away nothing at all from the old RTs, which still work just fine: they’re basically a more useful referral service (and one that, unlike RTs, actually show you a new person you may want to follow in a more direct way). Use both if you want, and stop being so whiny. The End.

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Hello Drew,
Guess what? Not the end The new RTs take everything out of what RTs were designed/created by users to do. Also everyone is entitled to an opinion and to call that whinnying is just disrespectful in my opinion. Plus, next time get your URL right

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