The Etiquette of the Twitter Retweet

I am a writer, graphic designer, and ranked by Google,MSN and Yahoo America's Favorite Love columnist I am engaged to Rick London a writer, cartoonist and brand designer, together, we own the seo and branding firm Pen And Ink Inc.

Although it is not an official Twitter function, one of the most important Twitter abbreviations is "RT" (retweet). These two letters represent the origin of every tweet ever copied and resent by another Twitter-user on Twitter each day. Recently new Twitter mobile access software has created an increase of tweets where the RT is missing and instead a (via @anyID) tag is found on the end of Tweets. This deviation from the classic RT can cause confusion and result in plagiarizing of tweeted messages. It is important to understand the one of the basic tenants of the retweet syntax to credit the original author, so that when it appears in a new network, other readers understand its origins.

The syntax of the proper retweet is simple. [RT][Original twitterer ID][Original tweet]; RT @JoyAndLife: @LeeHiller @ricklondon Yes, great poets knew this. We hope by speaking the Language of Love others will remember. The RT is recognition of an original tweeted message writer and the equivalent of copyright recognition. The RT also saves confusion over meaning and intention of sender in relation to recipient. Removing an ID and placing it after the Tweet can drastically alter the sender's intent.

One Twitter misleading scenario could look like this could lead to tragic consequences: @TheGroom sends the following Tweet; @TheGroom @TheBride Love you baby. Will meet later for wedding rehearsal can't wait to marry you. Another person sees this and decides to retweet in the "via" format. @BobJ @TheBride Love you baby. Will meet later for wedding rehearsal can't wait to marry you. (via @TheGroom). It now appears that @BobJ is going to meet and eventually marry the bride. A second retweet would totally remove the groom from the end of the tweet creating even more confusion. The correct RT form would have been, BobJ: RT @TheGroom @TheBride Love you baby. Will meet later for wedding rehearsal can't wait to marry you.

We often see quotes being used in tweets. On closer inspection you find the words of classic poets, political figures, authors and other high-profile people. However there are often quotes are created and tweeted by an individual who may or may not be considered a writer. @CindyQ tweets, @CindyQ "My life crunches like sneakers on eggshells". The words signed or not are her intellectual property. It does not matter that she is not a published author in the traditional sense. When she tweets she is self- publishing. This is her original quote, tagged or not, by not adding the RT with her Twitter ID it is plagiarism. Using any method other than a classic RT would violate her copyright. There are copyright attorneys who spend many hours each day on all social networks looking for this, and find it often. Usually it does not make it to court, a settlement is made between Twittering attorney and plagiarizing Twitterer.

What we tweet or retweet is indexed by Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. making it a permanent record outside Twitter. How each of us retweets can reinforce original writer's quotes or messages, or alter the meaning of information others are creating and search engines are indexing. Millions of us enjoy sharing the information we find daily on Twitter. Remember always to retweet others as you would have others retweet you.

Mastering Love From the Masters of Love

Rick London is a writer, cartoonist and brand designer. He is the founder of the world's only shoes featuring famous love quotes, Shoes That Amuse, and his offbeat cartoon Londons Times has been Google's #1 ranked since 2005.
He is engaged to the love advice columnist for the Herald de Paris, Lee Hiller, who is also an EzineArticles expert author. Together, they own the seo and branding firm PenAndInkInc. They are currently in development of a radio call-in talk show about love.

What is love? Love is one of those few nouns that expresses something intangible. In the case of romantic love it is something we feel with our significant other, but, still, it is intangible. It has no color, no flavor, and no texture, unlike a garment or dvd. The ancient masters and even current literary giants have taken a stab at describing what this mysterious noun means, and though many come close, still, until one has experienced real love, the words are only words that are interpretations written by masterful writers. Some of them may or may not have experienced love, even so we enjoy reading their words about love.

One of Dr. Seuss' most famous quotes is about love. He said, "When you are in Love you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams." The great Sufi master and poet Rumi gave a caveat to others who were or are in observation of the lovers; Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be." Obviously it was meant as a warning that this thing called love can be quite intoxicating and the person or persons in love should be left to their devices. In a way, Rumi is giving a fair warning to others. That those not in love should not show envy or try to interfere with the Lovers.

In many of Ralph Waldo Emerson's quotes he talks about love and those trying to interfere with it or drive wedges out of envy or hate. He is saying that nature (which he often capitalized with an "N" or in quotes ("Nature") is at one with God as are we (humans). So interference is based on ego, and, ego has never won over nature, because nature has God behind it. He doesn't come out and say this, he leaves it to the discretion of his readers, but it becomes a very clear thread in the theme of his famous quotes. It is almost a "Love conquers all" theme in that, how can it not? Love is simply a part of nature as is everything and everyone else; and only ego can try to interfere with it, and ego always loses in the end (if it is up against nature).

Ralph Waldo Emerson who was keenly aware of love and humanity's connection with nature and this is reflected in one of his more famous quotes. "Everything in nature contains all the power of nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff." Even given Emerson's brilliant observance of human behavior and fascinating theories of how the universe works, he had a childlike fascination with nature and it reflects in all his quotes regarding it. The theme of Emerson's famous nature quotes is that we, as human beings, are not separate from nature, and to develop a faith, one must first develop a love and/or devotion to (outer nature) such as trees, flowers, animals, etc. Nature imparts a very telling "secret"; we are a part of it. Even Voltaire echoed Emerson's sentiments about love with "Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination". Notice Voltaire, also capitalizes the "N" in Nature; as he considered it, like Emerson, one of God's greatest creation, if not the greatest, since it included the love of humans towards other humans.

I have now lived on planet earth a little over a half decade. Though I was taught many of these "famous love quotes" in my early days of college, they really meant nothing to me, as, I didn't think they pertained to me. I was still finding myself, as were many of my peers, and in that self-absorption of "finding oneself", there is not a lot of room for real love; but, plenty of room for ego. That is what I had and projected. Human ego is just a small blip on the radar screen that makes a lot of noise by talking the talk, but can't walk the walk because its shoes are missing.

Now at fifty five, I have been blessed to experience the give and take of real love with my finance Lee Hiller, who, like me, walked many similar paths in her early life in search of self and finally love. Ironically, we were both ready for real love at the same time; as we had almost simultaneously learned we were and are "at one with nature". We have discovered while finding love in each other so many friends, who we know are God's children (we'd always heard the term but it didn't make as much sense until we felt the connection; very much like a tree feels "at home in the forest"). Of course our love attracted a few naysayers, some in the form of "Life Coaches" others in the form of "Spiritual leaders", a few trying to drive wedges but it did not work; and, as Emerson and Voltaire said, "How could it, it was/is ego fighting God and/or Nature". Now, unlike the early years of college over thirty years ago; we love studying the great spiritual masters such as Emerson, Rumi, Voltaire and others. We were and are able to "test their theories" of human ego vs. God, and can our love withstand "the heat". It did and it does. Love is forever. Ego is but for a few days or weeks until Nature turns it into dust.