Have you ever seen “MT” posted at the beginning of a tweet in the same spot that usually “RT” (re-tweet) would be? The first couple times I noticed it, I wasn’t quite sure what MT stood for, and it seems I’m not the only one:
A co-worker (who shall remain nameless as I promised) recently emailed me with a suggestion for The ICUC Glossary: MT.
This co-worker of mine admitted having to go Google it after noticing it the other (having a first encounter with it); thus we deduced that if a social media professional didn’t know the term right off the bat – there are probably others out there who don’t understand it either.
MT = Modified Tweet.
It’s an acronym, another shorthand used to help save those precious 140 characters.
The co-worker who suggested the idea linked me to an article on STweM, “What does MT mean on Twitter?” and in that post Andrew Spong, PhD says: “…it is a signifier of the fact that the poster has kindly added a little value of their own to the tweet in republishing it by modifying it.”
I use it whenever I RT (re-tweet) a post that I’ve tweaked a little bit. Essentially, use MT to indicate that you’ve amenda someone’s tweet and it’s no longer a verbatim duplicate of their post.
…
^A tweet I made yesterday during a social media chat, and Taariq’s MT of what I said.
…
I’ve taken out words or abbreviated to get under the 140 character limit. MT can be used to correct an error or typo (in a friendly way- MT is not a badge for Grammar Police to wear). I use it to add in comments or opine on a tweet, jumping into a conversation and building on what’s been said already.
ReTweeting is great, it’s how followers can see a great tweet posted by a user they may not follow as well, and you can easily share great content. If you make any adjustments to the RT, just amend it to preface with “MT.”
The article on STweM goes on to discuss the etiquette of a MT, and since Dr. Spong is so eloquent I’ll use his words once more:
“Regarding the question of respectful attribution: you may ask ‘isn’t it rude to modify someone’s tweet?’ Ultimately, this is a matter of personal opinion. For my own part, I’m delighted to see someone MT a tweet that I have posted on the basis that it indicates to me that the original publication triggered a chain of thought, a pattern of association, or a new conversation.?
Do you MT?
Rss Feed