Q: Should I use the built in Twitter Retweet functionality, or tweet with the RT code?

Let’s start with the basics of what the Retweet or RT is! Simply, its a copy/paste action where you send out an original tweet that you received from someone else to your whole group of followers.

If someone says something you find useful or that you particularly like, Retweet it to show your support. It spreads the message, adding value both to the original twitterer, but also to your own twitter stream.

In respect, you may find that sometimes people will RT your tweets…. It feels good right!? It helps get your name out there to a broader audience, and in turn may aid in finding you new fans & followers…….. it may even get you some traffic to your blog post.

There are two ways to retweet. I like to employ a little of both depending on the circumstances….

In order to Retweet you may hit the little retweet button in-line on the twitter page. It will automatically push the tweet into your followers stream w/ a little retweet icon by their handle…. See the same tweet above, as it appears on Kajon’s page… She RT’d me and my tweet goes out to all her followers as though it were part of her stream. (See the note to the right of my name that indicates it was a RT.)

You can also satisfy the RT by copying and pasting it into your status update and placing RT @handle in front of the original tweet! This affords you the space to prepend the RT w/ a note of your own…. See!

A few Retweet Etiquette Tips…..

Mario and I were talking about the “Twitter is a cocktail party” analogy one night, and he asked “What about when people RT their own tweet, isn’t that like double dipping…!!”  Don’t double dip…. RTing your own tweet is sure to appear like you just took a bite out of that cocktail weenie and dumped it back into the bbq sauce….!

Asking “Please RT” was one of the MOST COMMON tweeted phrases in 2010. However, that doesn’t mean that you should just apply it to any and every tweet. I’ll be using “Please RT” along with the #SupportKCRW hashtag when we run the KCRW Pledge Drive. I think its great cause its RTing for a good cause, not merely to satisfy my ever hungry twego…. (Yeah, I made it up…)