Twitter users publish about half a billion tweets daily on the social platform. As you scroll down your feed, you may need to share someone’s tweet with your followers. However, it isn’t always ideal to copy and share the tweet as a new tweet. This is why the platform possesses a retweet feature that automatically allows users to reshare tweets from other users.
This tweet-resharing feature has greatly evolved since the company introduced it in 2009. But before then, people used to RT tweets they wanted to share with their followers. Despite its massive usage, many users are still unclear about the feature’s meaning and how to use it. Many questions exist about how to undo its usage and amass it on your tweets. Luckily, this article discusses the retweet function on the social media platform.
Retweet Meaning: The Story Behind the Name of This Feature
Although widely used, people are still unsure about the meaning of the feature that allows users to share tweets directly. Retweet, meaning reposting a tweet, involves sharing someone’s post with their names and post engagement intact. The feature allows users to repost other tweets without composing a new tweet.
Previously, people used to RT others’ tweets. This means they manually rewrote the tweets in quotes with the original poster’s name and the RT abbreviation. This was not automatic since they always had to spell out the tweets word by word before sharing. Retweeting was posting someone else’s tweet but with credits.
However, introducing the resharing feature with a button in 2009 changed how tweet reposting worked. This time, users didn’t need more than two clicks to share interesting posts. This feature continued to evolve, adding newer improvements to make the experience smoother. For instance, the company rolled out the current version of tweet quotes six years afterward.
Unsurprisingly, this feature is one of the most used Twitter features. Today, people can share up to 100 tweets from others this way without breaking a sweat. No one can doubt the impact of retweets on how people now use the platform.
What Is the Retweet Symbol? How To Identify This Icon on a Tweet
If you’ve noticed, all the functions on Twitter have their symbols. The like, comment, share, and view functions have unique symbols. In the same way, there is a retweet symbol. This symbol for this function is the two-squared arrows forming a box directly below the tweet.
The symbol appears below a tweet as the second icon from the left. Like all other symbols, it is gray when you haven’t reshared the posts. However, the symbol turns a minty neon shade when you’ve forwarded the tweet. It is one of the most conspicuous icons on the social media platform.
While the retweet icon is clickable in public accounts, it is inactive in private or locked tweets. This means that while you can reshare tweets from open accounts, there are limitations with posts from people with protected tweets.
How to Retweet on Twitter: Learn About Reposting Other Tweets
Resharing other tweets is one of the most basic activities one can perform on the social media platform. Resharing a tweet on your mobile application is similar to doing the same on the website. However, newbies to the platform may be unsure how to retweet on Twitter.
Here are five steps to reposting other tweets on Twitter:
- First, log into your Twitter account on your mobile device or personal computer. Here, you can either use any version of the Twitter application or the web version.
- Next, scroll to the tweet you wish to share.
- Click or tap the reshare button at the bottom of the tweet between the comment and like icons.
- The social media app will display a dialog box with two options: “Retweet” and “Quote Tweet.”
- Choose the first option, and you will immediately share the tweet with your followers.
When you reshare a Twitter post this way, the post appears the same way as the original tweet. It carries the original author’s name and the total number of engagements on the tweet. However, shared tweets always carry an overhead notice indicating the user retweeted. Again, following those tweets takes you to the original tweets, where you can access all the engagements.
Although this activity is easy, several automatic retweeting tools exist online. These web tools allow users to share tweets from preset accounts automatically. Automating this process is important for retweeting in bulk, gaining a larger audience, and boosting engagements. For growth, forwarding posts from the best Twitter accounts exposes you to a larger audience.
How To Quote Retweet: Sharing Twitter Posts With Comments
The feature to quote tweets on Twitter allows users to share other tweets with additional comments. While the basic reposting feature only supports sharing posts directly without any additions, additions are sometimes needed. For instance, you may want to add opinions, comments, ideas, or media while retweeting another post. Now, the question of how to quote retweets persists.
Here are four steps for quoting a tweet:
- First, open the Twitter app or the website on your device and ensure you’ve logged into your account.
- Go to the tweet you wish to quote and hit the reshare icon between the comment and like icons. Two options will appear in a tiny dialog box.
- Choose the second option, “Quote Tweet.” The application will open another page where you can add a comment and toggle the post settings before sharing.
- Click the blue “Tweet” button at the top right corner of the dialog box.
Immediately, the app will publish your quote tweet. In this instance, users can add comments on the RT independent of the original tweet. However, users can still visit the main tweet from the quote tweet, interacting with it on its own.
How To Delete Retweets: Dealing With Regular Quote Retweets
Deleting tweets is one thing, but so is removing reshared tweets. And while there is a delete option for removing these tweets, removing retweets takes another angle. There are two ways to deal with a regular RT and a quote tweet. One way concerns undoing a share action, while the other removes your content. There are some concerns regarding how to delete retweets; let’s dive in.
How To Undo a Retweet
Undoing a retweet takes a few taps or clicks and works similarly to performing a reshare. This action works the same way for all versions of Twitter; mobile app and web. Overall, the process of how to undo a retweet is very straightforward.
Here is how to do it in three easy steps:
- First, open Twitter on your device and find the post you wish to undo. You can get this tweet on your profile or open it from your notifications.
- Next, click the mint-colored retweet icon under the tweet. A couple of options will appear. A tiny dialog box immediately.
- Choose the red “Undo Retweet” option.
The social media application will immediately undo the RT, removing it from your profile. One good thing about removing shared tweets is the subtlety accompanying the process. For instance, if you eventually realize that the tweet you shared was fake news, you could quietly remove it. Also, not many Twitter users will notice that it was there in the first place. Besides, they couldn’t interact with you on the tweet.
How To Delete a Quote Tweet
Publishing quote tweets involves sharing someone else’s or your old tweets with additional comments. After quoting a tweet, you open up an avenue for a fresh conversation involving the original tweet and your extra comment. But how can one delete a quote tweet?
You can remove a quote tweet in four simple steps:
- First, open the Twitter application or website on a mobile or personal computer browser.
- Log into your account, and the social platform will automatically place you on your homepage.
- From the homepage, open the sidebar and open your Twitter profile.
- Scroll down to the quote tweet you wish to delete and open it.
- After opening the tweet, tap the three dots icon at the top right corner. Several options will appear.
- Choose the first option, “Delete Tweet.” The app will ask you to confirm your choice.
- Confirm by choosing “Delete,” and you’ll erase the quote tweet from your profile and other places on the social platform.
Ultimately, the process of deleting a quote tweet is the same as that of deleting a tweet. This could be because the company views quote tweets as tweets. Understandably, their entire functions are very similar.
What Are the 5 Most Retweeted Tweets? Find Out the Most Shared Twitter Posts
Different tweets enjoy different reactions on Twitter. A metric like the number of likes could determine the tweet’s acceptance level. However, metrics like RTs and quote tweets could mean anything from approval to disapproval. However, many tweets have garnered several million retweets over time. But people often wonder about the most retweeted tweets of all time.
1. Yusaku Maezawa’s New Year’s Giveaway Tweet
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa shared a tweet on January 5th, 2019 promising to give away 100 million Yen. Maezawa promised to share the cash with 100 random Twitter users who retweeted the post and followed his profile. The tweet blew up in Japan, becoming the most retweeted post within 24 hours.
Within a day, it had surpassed the record, blowing past the 3.1 million threshold over the next few days. The tweet now has over 3.6 million RTs.
2. Carter Wilkerson’s Appeal for Wendy’s Nuggets
“HELP ME, PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS.” This simple tweet became one of the most retweeted posts ever, but how did that happen? Carter Wilkerson tweeted asking Wendy’s how many RTs he needed to receive free chicken nuggets for a year. Wendy’s replied with “18 million,” and he immediately accepted the assignment.
Carter tweeted a screenshot of the conversation on April 5th, 2017. Surprisingly, the tweet received massive support, garnering attention from large companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Although the tweet now has 2.9 million RTs, he got his wish.
3. Yusaku Maezawa’s 1 Billion Yen Giveaway Tweet
One year later, Maezawa made another giveaway tweet, promising to share 1 Billion Yen among 1,000 people. The condition for winning was following his account and retweeting the announcement. He placed a one-week deadline for the giveaway.
Maezawa tweeted on December 31st, 2019, sharing some conditions on a YouTube video. The tweet has now gathered over 2.8 million RTs since then.
4. Ellen DeGeneres’ Star-Studded Selfie
During the 86th Academy Awards, Ellen DeGeneres shared a selfie with Bradley Cooper and many other stars. The tweet overtook Obama’s record within 35 minutes, recording over 800,000 RTs. The tweet, which DeGeneres captioned “If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars,” has 2.8 million RTs.
5. The Tweet Announcing Chadwick Boseman’s Passing
The tweet that announced Chadwick Boseman’s passing is the fifth most retweeted tweet. Because his death was a surprise, the announcement drew a lot of attention from people worldwide. His family’s tweet on August 28th, 2020, now has over 1.9 million RTs.
Where To Buy Twitter Retweets: The Best Websites for Obtaining Tweet Reposts
The number of RTs people get on Twitter is a massive indicator of their influence and popularity. It doesn’t end there; many people organize contests on the platform, citing retweets as the determining metric. For these reasons, users ask questions about how to buy Twitter retweets.
There are several websites for purchasing reposts on the social media platform. Here are the ten most reliable:
- UseViral
- SidesMedia
- GetViral.io
- ViewsExpert
- SocialPackages.net
- Viralyft
- Famups
- FastLikes.io
- Social-Viral
- Appsally
What Is a Retweet Picker? How Do These Web Tools Work?
Contests are a popular activity on Twitter. People organize these contests with various determining metrics in mind. These contests sometimes consider RTs, replies, quote tweets, likes, and followers. A retweet picker draws random winners for raffles, giveaways, and contests on Twitter based on retweets. The web app performs these actions automatically from thousands and sometimes millions of accounts.
There are several RT pickers—here are the most popular ones:
- Sorteous
- Simpliers
- Twitter Picker
- Comment Picker
- TwitterPicker.io
- Twitter Giveaway Picker
- RetweetPicker
People amass thousands of RTs on their accounts over time. But sometimes, it becomes necessary to delete those retweets in bulk. In those cases, third-party apps like TweetEraser come to the rescue. At TweetEraser, we’ve designed a simple web application for deleting tweets and retweets in large numbers. This app loads Twitter archives, performing highly-specialized deletion operations in a few clicks. Users intent on cleaning their profiles should give it a try. Start filtering and cleaning your Twitter timeline today!
