New ReTweet Makes Sense in the Context of Lists
The new retweet functionality on Twitter has received its share of negative reviews. What is it? Basically the old retweets would just show in your timeline, like this: RT @jaredstauffer : check out the NEW br.st Twitter client - with the user avatar and Twitter Username of the person who retweeted it. The new way is they show is like this:
The big deal with this is that now you may see people you are not following in your timeline. This is a big shock to some people and admittedly took a little getting used to on my part as well.
Why I think this is a good thing...
I think this new functionality is a good thing and only enhances your experience on Twitter for the following reasons:
1. It presents new people to you: One of the most exciting things about Twitter is finding new people to follow that you are interested in - and this feature only helps you do that.
2. It properly cites the author: I know this may not seem like a big deal, but quoting people the exact way they meant to and did say something is important. When you only have 140 characters it is hard enough to get your point across without someone else changing up your tweet.
3. It encourages the use of Lists: Lists are the coolest thing to hit Twitter in a long time and if you are not using them you are truly missing out. It someone you follow retweets someone else and you see it in your timeline you can add that person to one of your lists (in addition to or in lieu of following them).
Why it makes sense in the context of lists...
The new retweet makes sense in the context of lists because once people get it that lists remake how they read and use Twitter they won't mind seeing people they don't follow in their timeline. People will also understand that the new retweet actually enhances their experience instead of interrupting it.
November 18th, 2009 - 17:17
Hi Jared,
interesting viewpoint about how the native twitter RT feature makes sense in view of lists. I think seeing people that I don’t follow in my timeline is insignificant and irrelevant. What i want to know is why lists will work better if people use the native feature rather than the old method?
I would like to add a bit about citation, 52% of all RT’s contain links, it is the link and a descriptor of the link that is being shared and re-shared. Upon closer examination what is really being shared is content that the link points to and that is what needs to remain intact, which of course it does.
Often the copy is secondary to the link, and we aren’t citing anything rather simply sharing a link, sometimes with a opinion attached. The new feature kills this link economy. It does not allow us to attach our thoughts. I suspect that rt evolved to be such a big part of twitter because we like to voice our opinions or be credited for curating information. RT’s are conversational and the native feature is not.
Thanks for the thoughts,
Andrew
November 19th, 2009 - 17:56
I agree that it takes away being able to add an opinion and this really sucks. I have some new thoughts on retweets that I will be sharing early next week in a new blog post, stay tuned.