Comments on: Twitter retweet: how the new RT functionality looks

By: Caspar

Caspar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:19:16 +0000

I like the feature a lot. But I wish they'd been a bit more radical, and ignored the 140 limit. Like your example shows, RTing more than 140 chars loses whatever is at the end - this is usually a URL. Why not allow RTs to include the full 140 chars PLUS the "RT @username" at the start? Since the message you're sending itself is just 140 characters, I can't see anyone being up in arms about this. Shame you can't add comments to the RT but sometimes it's nice to see a comment in the next post, where the person RTing can expand a bit more than just adding one or two words of agreement.

By: Linda Sherman

Linda Sherman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:35:30 +0000

Malcolm, You provide a good reminder to keep tweets short enough to be retweeted.

When I teach clients how to tweet I always show them the calculation of what their RT will take:

RT @username: usually about 15 characters

I tell them to leave another minimum 10 characters for a comment and therefore they should stop their tweet when they see the counter at 25 not zero.
@LindaSherman

By: Twitter trials new new-tweet feature » malcolm coles

Twitter trials new new-tweet feature » malcolm coles — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:30:27 +0000

[...] top of the new Twitter retweet feature, I also have the new web-based method for alerts about new tweets from people you follow. These [...]

By: Joseph

Joseph — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:08:38 +0000

I like RT with comments too. From what I gather, they had to make a choice here. With the new RT functionality, all RTs from your friends of the same tweet collapse down into a single tweet in your timeline. Collapsing is kinda hard to do if everybody can comment too. Not impossible, but more difficult to show all the info in a clean fashion.

By: RTer, ??????? @ Geedr.com

RTer, ??????? @ Geedr.com — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:25:56 +0000

[...] pic via Malcolm Coles [...]

By: david sanger

david sanger — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:34:25 +0000

Also if someone rwtweets you , you can delete the retweet, either from https://twitter.com/#retweeted_of_mine or from the retweeter's timeline.

By: Rodney Isemann

Rodney Isemann — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:16:36 +0000

Personally I think it just adds complexity. Didn't we love Twitter for being simple?

By: Malcolm Coles

Malcolm Coles — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:36:32 +0000

Interesting you should say that - I have been thinking of using the excerpt as a standfirst at the top of each post. Or using a new custom field ...

By: jaamit

jaamit — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:35:18 +0000

interesting... perhaps they might develop their own tweetdeck style web app to get users on their own site? Personally i hate using the web interface but that might tempt me...

By: jaamit

jaamit — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:31:24 +0000

LOL you've uncovered my dodgy skimreading style Or, if I was gonna get all Malcolm-Colesy on you I could say how that exposes a usability fail in your blogging and how you should be writing key points in giant 24pt letters. No? OK, I'll just read things properly next time.