Definition of RT on Twitter
"RT" on Twitter is short for "retweet." To retweet means to copy a tweet to your own Twitter profile. Anyone who views your profile can see the tweet along with the username of the person that originally wrote it. Additionally, your followers can see the retweet in their private timelines of all the people they follow. If you see "RT" in a tweet, it is a manual retweet rather than an automatic one.
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Manual Retweets vs. Automatic Retweets
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A manual retweet, or RT, is one that has been manually copied as a new tweet and appended with the letters "RT" at the beginning of the tweet. That was the only way to retweet before Twitter introduced automatic retweeting, which allows users to retweet by clicking the "Retweet" button. This newer style of retweeting does not use the letters "RT."
Manually Retweeting
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To manually retweet, copy the entire tweet, including the originating @username, and paste it into a new tweet. Type "RT" (without quotes) at the beginning of the tweet followed by a space before the originating @username, then click the "Tweet" button. This attributes the tweet to that user. Think of it as a direct quote.
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Automatically Retweeting
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To automatically retweet, click the "Retweet" button on any tweet you want your followers to see. To confirm that you want to retweet it, click "Retweet" in the confirmation pop-up dialog that appears. The retweet appears exactly as it first appeared to you, along with your username as the retweeter.
Adding a Comment to a Retweet
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When you manually retweet, you can add a comment to the tweet before sending it. To do so, compose the retweet as described in Section 2. Type your comment at the very beginning of the tweet before the "RT." Bear in mind that you still only get a total of 140 characters, which includes the contents of the original tweet, the original tweeter's username, your username, the "RT" and your comment. Commenting in a manual retweet is not always possible without drastically abbreviating the original tweet. You cannot modify automatic retweets.
Retweet Etiqutte
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Because all tweets are limited to 140 characters, you may want or need to modify manual tweets so that their contents will fit inside a retweet. Bear in mind that you are attributing a tweet to a particular person. If you do modify a retweet to economize on space, keep the message as close to the original as possible. Do not intentionally misquote anyone on Twitter. Retweet as often as you like, since an RT is usually taken as an indirect compliment on Twitter. Do bear in mind, however, that your followers want to see you write your own tweets as well.
Restrictions on Retweeting
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When automatically retweeting, you cannot retweet tweets from protected users. A protected user is a Twitter user who has rendered her profile private. Only those to whom she grants permission can see her tweets. If you have been granted such permission and wish to retweet something from a protected user you follow, you will find Twitter does not let you do it from the Twitter website. Clicking the "Retweet" button does nothing. Technically you could manually retweet a protected user, but such users likely would prefer you respect their privacy.
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