Monday, May 23, 2011

Twitter deals with the shortcoming of new retweet format

I objected to the new twitter retweet format early on; mainly because it was 'harder' for me to find out who was retweeting my tweets.   As time went by, I kind of got used to it.  Also the new retweet format made one's twitter stream more colorful.  What's that mean?.. It means that I believe a more colorful stream is somewhat an indication of a person who is listening, and who is likely to be a more genuine user.   It's just one more way (yes there are other signals) of instantly knowing who is a genuine twitterrer versus a broadcaster or spammer. 

See my twitter stream here.

However there has always been one serious shortcoming with the new retweet (aka RT) format, that is the burden is on you to find out who retweeted you.  To do that, you gotta log on to the twitter web interface, click on "retweets," and then click on "Your tweets, retweeted." 

In the original format when someone retweeted you, it would appear as a mention (i.e. RT @KyEkinci) immediately on your radar.  The new retweet format doesn't have that ability to signal the original twitterrer. 

Why is so important to know who retweeted you?  Because it is!

Well, obviously it is important, that now Twitter recognized the shortcoming of the new retweet format, and announced that they are enabling email notifications for those who retweet you as well as those who favorite your tweets.


As someone who doesn't want to get many emails (I get enough), I will not utilize this feature; but it's a positive step to recognize an issue, and try to fix it.  A better fix would have been a standalone "retweet" notification on twitter and hootsuite, and tweetdeck etc.  -- you get the idea.

Related posts:

Ky Ekinci : Co-Founder Office Divvyby Ky Ekinci | Co-Founder, Office Divvy ™
published on Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Connect:  Ky on Twitter  |  Office Divvy on Twitter  |  On Facebook
Posted by Ky Ekinci at 6:49 PM
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