Retweeting on Twitter is a feature that was created by and for Twitter users. When someone retweets a tweet from one of the people they follow, it means they want to share the tweet with their followers because they find it interesting. In the past, Twitter users had to type the letters, "RT", the "@" symbol, and the name of the user whose tweet they were retweeting. Users could add their own commentary to the retweet if they had something to add. With the new Twitter Retweet feature, all you have to do is click the retweet button in order to retweet someone’s tweet. However, you cannot add your own commentary to the tweet. The avatar of the person who originally created the tweet appears on everyone’s Twitter stream. In addition, multiple retweets of the same Tweet no longer appear; only the first copy appears.

The Benefits of the New Retweet Feature

The rolling out of the new Retweet feature on Twitter has caused quite the uproar on Twitter and the blogosphere. Many people are unhappy with the new feature, but before we get into why, it’s also important to point out that the feature also has many perks. One of the biggest benefits of the Retweet feature is that it doesn’t publish the same tweets in your Twitter stream over and over and only publishes the first copy of a particular retweet. That way you won’t have to read the same tweets multiple times when different users you follow retweet the same material.

Another benefit of the new Retweet feature is that no one’s tweets can be edited. Originally, people could shorten retweets and add their own commentary. The problem with this is that sometimes the tweets can become misleading and unfair to the author of the tweet because by shortening or editing a tweet, you can change its essence. The new Retweet feature prevents that from happening. And if you absolutely want to add commentary to a tweet, you can simply retweet the old way. This new feature doesn’t necessarily stop you from doing so.

If for whatever reason you don’t like seeing the avatars of strangers appear on your Twitter stream, you can simply block retweets from all users who use the Retweet feature. If don’t want to see the retweets of a particular user, you can block retweets from that person alone. Organic retweets do not offer as much flexibility.

Another benefit of the new Retweet feature is that people can’t fake retweets. Many spammers have faked retweets from well-known Twitter users in order to drive traffic to their websites.

Why Some Twitter Users Are Pissed about the New Retweet Feature

One of the biggest complaints about the new Retweet feature is that users cannot add their own commentary. Supporters of the feature think that’s a good thing because it doesn’t allow you to mislead anyone or alter the essence of other people’s tweets. However, for many Twitter users, one of the most fun parts of using Twitter is being able to add commentary to other people’s Tweets. With the new Retweet feature, you can only parrot back things that others have said. It doesn’t allow you to add your own flair to others’ tweets, which could ultimately mean that people will end up sharing content.

Another problem with the Retweet feature is that it assumes that you are agreeing with whatever you retweet because you cannot add commentary. Essentially, you are giving everything you retweet a thumbs up. However, sometimes, Twitter users retweet things in order to express their disagreement or distaste, but if there’s no way to add commentary, you cannot make that clear. The Retweet feature is less flexible than organic RT’ing in that sense. Furthermore, you won’t get any credit for anything you retweet since only the original tweeter’s avatar is shown. This makes retweeting less appealing for many Twitter users because, let’s face it, we often just retweet in order to attract attention to ourselves.

Additionally, many Twitter users aren’t happy with the new Retweet feature because of the unfamiliar faces that appear in their streams. Supporters claim that crediting the original tweeters and displaying their avatars gives the tweets context. Nevertheless, many people don’t like seeing their Twitter stream bombarded with the photos of strangers because it can be jarring. Some users even admit to ignoring tweets from unfamiliar faces. On the other hand, when you see a follower’s familiar face, you trust them and feel assured that they are sharing something of value with you.

As Twitter continues to tweak the new Retweet feature, they will probably listen to the comments from users and make the retweets editable. While some Twitter users are hoping that Twitter will stop putting out new features and stick with simplicity, others are welcoming this new feature as a welcome change. Whatever your opinion, it’s still possible to retweet organically and avoid the feature altogether if you want to do things the old way.