(or How To Use Twitter’s New ReTweet Feature)

Sharing someone’s brilliance with your online community is one of the sincerest and most appreciated forms of flattery on social media. Not only does it validate his point of view, but it also provides a great benefit to original author by introducing him to your audience.

Let’s face it: We all feel a boost when someone shares our content with others; so, remember to show the love often and share valuable content with you audience. And Twitter is an ideal platform for sharing; in addition to having a great deal of impact, it also is a breeze to do.

But retweeting others is not completely a selfless act. While the recipient enjoys greater visibility, you also reap a few key benefits as well. Your act of kindness is often met with reciprocation, or at least acknowledgment. Retweeting is a terrific way to establish and grow your online relationships with influencers, industry leaders, prospects, and potential partners. It also shows your followers that you are someone who shares and engages on social media – and not someone who simply broadcasts their own content or uses the platform to sell.

Spice Up Your RT:

Even better than simply sharing a tweet is commenting on it. Adding a few words in front of the original post says you really read it, put thought into it, and valued the message and its author. In the past, this posed a challenge, as you would have needed to copy the original tweet and paste it into a new post. You’d add your comment and the letters “RT” in front of the tweet you’re quoting, as in the image below.

That was then, this is now.

Even for the sharpest tweeters out there, it’s difficult to be witty and meaningful in 140 characters as it is. When you’re retweeting, it gets even tougher. After all, you’re adding your own two cents in front of someone’s quoted tweet, and that really cuts into your character allotment.

That was in the old days (before spring of 2015!). Twitter has implemented enhancements to their RT functionality, and made it a lot easier to comment on others’ tweets.

Today when you click the retweet button, or “Quote Tweet” as Twitter likes to call it, the original missive appears as an attachment to your new bit of wit. This means you can offer your followers and the original poster more value with your add-on. Check out the picture below for an example.

When you publish this tweet it’s going to look a lot like the tweets with pictures or videos attached. Your text will appear above a call-out box that quotes the original, as in this image:

Go ahead, log-in to Twitter and give it a try! Worried about test driving the wrong way with someone else’s tweet? Connect with one of our Ghosts and practice on us:

Nika Stewart: @NikaStewart

Robert Mandelberg: @StreambankMedia

(me!) Sandy Potts: @sdpotts