Twitter etiquette: Know when to MT or RT

I’m on Twitter every day and was a little confused when I started seeing the use of MT instead of RT in front of tweets. Here’s some clarification on the two abbreviations.

If you “Modify a Tweet,” the proper protocol would be to use “MT @username:” prior to the message. This lets the reader know that you made changes to it. If you are forwarding a tweet without making changes it is considered a “Retweet,” and “RT @username:” is the standard format to use.

How much modification justifies an MT? If you are just changing a couple of characters to save space, and not changing the tweet substantially, then you may stick with a RT. If you begin to shorten a tweet significantly or change words, then you should go with MT instead.

Twitter etiquette is more than just learning a few key terms. In future blog posts, I will cover commonly asked questions about social media culture and etiquette. Do you have a question you would like me to answer? Ask in the comments section.

Happy tweeting!

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