What is a reTweet and what does it mean anyway?

Retweeting has now become a core part of the Twitter experience. Retweeting is basically how Twitter users share interesting tweets from the people they are following. They copy and paste the original tweet and send it out. To give credit to the original person, users put “RT” plus the originator’s username at the beginning of the tweet and add the link as well.  See example above and see another here in a text version:

– The Twitter user @siliconcaribe tweets: I just heard that Island Grill is releasing new products in July!

– You retweet by posting RT @siliconcaribe I just heard that Island Grill is releasing new products in July!

NB: the retweet is emerging as the best indicator of relevance for users of the service. The amount of retweets a brand, a person gets also counts towards how influential they are, a factor used by WeFollow.com which is a leading twitter directory. Additionally, the amount of retweets also can also help a brand message, offer, event go viral.

Related Stories

How I doubled my followers on Twitter in 24hrs in 5 steps

An Interesting Use for Twitter

The Value of a ReTweet