Comments on: Was the Twitter Retweet Feature Designed to Bring Value to Google and Bing Search

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:55:33 +0000

Spot on Carl, everything you say is 100% accurate. The native twitter retweet feature cripples the conversational and to some extent social aspects of the platform. The other main twitter feature “lists” to some extent does the same thing when you compare it to how “groups” previously functioned in Twitter clients such as Tweetdeck and Seesmic. Unfortunately Twitter is pressuring developers to replace groups with lists. I suspect they are doing the same to some extent for the RT feature.

Thanks for you comment Carl, I can count on you to bring a thoughtful voice to the conversation.

By: Carl Ingalls

Carl Ingalls — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:49:12 +0000

Andrew,
The new Twitter retweet feature depersonalizes the retweet. If you want to connect with people on Twitter, use the older style. But if you just want something that’s quick and easy, use the new one.

I like connecting with the authors of the tweets I retweet. When I use the older more personal style of retweeting, the author sees my tweet in his or her replies / mentions tab, and is likely to respond. When I use the newer more automated Twitter retweet button, the author is much less likely to see it.

I like connecting with my readers when I send out a retweet. When I use the older more personal style of retweeting, my readers see my picture attached to the retweet and can easily see that this is something I have selected for them. When I use the newer more automated Twitter retweet button, my readers see a stranger’s picture on the retweet, and it is more difficult for them to see that it is from me.

Carl Ingalls

By: fledgling’s archive, november 2009 « Makurrah's Blog

fledgling’s archive, november 2009 « Makurrah's Blog — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:36:41 +0000

[...] Andrew Mueller muses on possible Google / Bing search motivators. [...]

By: On Twitter’s new retweet feature | The Whatever Blog

On Twitter’s new retweet feature | The Whatever Blog — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:02:41 +0000

[...] wonder why some start to wonder whether there’s a hidden agenda on this new retweet system (twitter thinking about [...]

By: Twitter Will Introduce an Advertising Model and It May Look Like This « The SiliconANGLE

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:31:09 +0000

[...] week I speculated that the new Twitter’s native Retweet feature was about search, but it looks like maybe I was wrong; it a may be all about advertising, with [...]

By: Mueller & Co. » Blog Archive » Twitter will Introduce an Advertising Model and it may Look Like this

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:40:37 +0000

[...] Comments « Was the Twitter Retweet Feature Designed to Bring Value to Google and Bing Search [...]

By: New ReTweet Makes Sense in the Context of Lists « Jared Stauffer

New ReTweet Makes Sense in the Context of Lists « Jared Stauffer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:53:16 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Why Twitter’s New Retweet Feature Sucks

Why Twitter’s New Retweet Feature Sucks — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:48:03 +0000

[...] that already exists. It’s no longer a separate tweet. Andrew Mueller thinks this was done to bring value to Bing and Google. I agree with him. He doesn’t like the ‘we know best’ tone Ev takes in his post to explain [...]

By: This Week in Twitter for 11/13/2009 « Church Mojo

This Week in Twitter for 11/13/2009 « Church Mojo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:24:47 +0000

[...] Was the Twitter Retweet Feature Designed to Bring Value to Google and Bing Search Andrew Mueller says follow the money: why would such an unpopular “feature” be forced [...]

By: Alex Schleber

Alex Schleber — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:23:56 +0000

Good thinking here, Andrew. BTW many thanks for promoting my post on the same topic.

As for the bit about “pandering for social capital”, I would say that from a Behavioral Economics perspective, that can never be fully divorced out of the equation. Nor should it be:

As I tried to make clear in my post, social capital (i.e. trust, asf.) as an ongoing unconscious calculus is very real. A little bit of it is put on the line with each tweet, and each retweet. So why would we want to take ourselves almost completely out of the equation, and lose our voice?

That’s what Social Media has been about at the core after all, everyone having a voice. Sure, there are many powerbrokers that wish this hadn’t happened, and would like nothing better than to take it back (Murdoch/Old Media, etc. etc.).

So it seems that at a deeper level, Twitter is learning (for the second time, first came the @ replies brouhaha) a lesson about a “Powerbroker vs. Friend” archetype conflict: Trying to tell us how to do something (The Powerbroker) that was established at a community (The Friend) level.

Which is why I really wondered if they of all people still don’t get social media. Or that they have built the platform(s) (same goes for Facebook) to allow the community to yell more loudly than ever before about having Twitter trying to dictate something.