Thanks for the tip! I need to stop using that retweet button from now onwards!

Whoa....good tip. I've been using that darned RTbutton and won't do it now! 
 

I suggest using the QUOTE TWEET option. It copies and pastes everything you need automatically. You then need to remove the quotation marks and tweeter's name. 
 
I don't like editing the tweet as it changes the author's original work. Thus, a problem. Sometimes it isn't possible to RT (not enough available characters). 
 
Added comments are often cool.

If you're using twitter.com  
Buffer gives you an easier way to do an "old-school" RT. It adds a buffer link below each tweet. Press it. Then press "Post Now". 
 
TweetDeck, HootSuite etc also give easy options for "old-school" RT

Been complaining about the RT feature -- or NON feature as the case may be -- for months! Thanks for the useful tips!

great add-on thoughts here in the comments, thanks folks! 
 
warmly, 
@Pistachio

I would never change someone's original tweet. If you do, use MT (modified tweet) instead of RT.

Great advice. You name the VERY reason I dislike the RT button! Will definitely share this great article.

I have to agree with Daniel Bud on this point. If you change someone's tweet in any way, use MT, not RT 
 
@scottgingold

I've now seen some sites making the auto-populate with RT @ as part of pre-made tweet. That seems like a nice touch from the coding side.

You can always just quote the person's Tweet and add RT: in front. Many Twitter clients give you the option of formatting your retweet this way by default.

Echoing what others said about third-party TW clients. Hootsuite does a very good job with this and makes it easy for manual RTs. Easier than copy-paste.

I've always used the rt button because it is so convenient but wished I could add my opinion. Thanks for the tip!

Daniel & Scott, I agree that MT (modified tweet) and PRT (partial RT) are signifiers that can be put to very good use.  
 
For my own tweeting though I have stuck to RT to avoid alienating readers unfamiliar with the subtleties tho. I just don't know if enough people know what RT alternatives mean (plenty of people are still getting up to speed on what a RT is in the first place). 
 
Ryan, Jeffrey, Rosemary, Giles a big fat AGREE! It's great that many 3rd party clients offer these features via "edit" or "quote" interfaces. We're very glad that's become more or less a standard, and we hope Twitter's own clients catch up to that.

Thanks for your valuable tip

Fair enough Laura and I guess the key is to know who your audience is, especially if you are b2c versus b2b.  
 
BTW, just followed you on twitter as well :) 
 
@scottgingold

THANK YOU for the pictures to go with the instruction as I am learning and so much is still greek to me :)The other plus to your explanation is that you explain "why."

I have another method I learned from @marismith. First click RT button then, highlight RT and username, copy what you highlighted, delete what you highlighted, paste what you highlighted to the end of the tweet, delete RT part and insert via. Whew its really pretty quick once you get the hang of it. You can also add your own comments in [brackets] if there is room

Hristo, Scott, Victoria, thanks! 
 
Lauren cool shortcut, thank you for adding it. Isn't it fun to compare "workflows"?

Hey Laura, Great little case study and tutorial!  
 
I almost always do manual retweets, rather than hitting the retweet button. I do them exactly as you've described! 
 
The only time I do automated retweets is when I am out of the office and use my BlackBerry, and then I use the BlackBerry app "quote" feature that just puts a tweet in quote marks. Although I must say that method is harder for people to read -- sometimes people miss the quotation marks and assume that's your own tweet. 
 
Anita

This is almost the exact opposite advice I would give. 
 
The only time I don't use the built in RT is when I want to add something to the RT, and then I urge you to only add in new, valuable content. If all you're doing is agreeing or adding "good tips!" then that's redundant, IMO. The act of RT'ing means you agree with what they are saying or think it's good content. 
 
Twitter, by default, notifies people by email when people RT their tweets. So, if a person cares about such things, they already know. If they have turned these notifications off, they likely aren't as caught up in the circle jerk as you are. 
 
And is the reason you're RT'ing to let the person know you're RT'ing, or is it to spread the value of their original tweet? Seems your advice is very self-focused. I RT to spread and add value, not to get noticed myself. 
 
If you want the person to know you agree or like their post, how about actually telling them? That's more "relationship-building" IMO. 
 
When I see "social media experts" using old-school RT's, I assume they are doing it more out of an attempt to further their own personal brand (so further RTs of that will also include their twitter handle) rather than out of an attempt to build relationships. But maybe I'm being cynical.

The Echophon app has an Retweet with Comment button which is basically an old school rt that is editable. I love it.

My reason for doing "old style" manual retweets isn't about self-promotion. It's about avoiding the negative comments I get for using the retweet button. 
 
Lots of people, especially those who have been on Twitter for several years, still do not like to see a tweet interjected in their stream from someone else. One's network can be very vocal about that -- it's about being sensitive to what your network wants, also.

I keep the number of people I follow on twitter quite small. I personally know and have met almost every person I follow, so I quickly notice a tweet from someone that I'm not following... and I always do a double check to see who it was that retweeted the content because it changes the context of what's being retweeted.  
 
I like your recommendations here - your strategies would make it easier for me to select what conversations I want to jump into.

Firefox also has an add-on called "Classic Retweet 1.0" so you can do the GOOD kind of RT right from Twitter. I also love Hootsuite for this, you can always edit! Here's the plug in: http://jonpierce.github.com/classic-retweet/

TR for Translate and Retweet

I'm with Glenn--I use Buffer. It lets me customize, and I figure setting it to go out later in my stream spreads out the visibility for the link or message I want to highlight.  
 
Also of interest: the recent Dan Zarrella finding that links in the middle of a tweet get more clickthroughs. Using the Buffer app lets me position the link. http://danzarrella.com/new-twitter-data-optimal-link-placement-for-clicks.html 
 
@BarbChamberlain

Thanks for the great outline! I RT this way all the time and much prefer it over the auto-RT button. That said, I learned recently from a friend that talked to Twitter directly that only RTs via the RT button "count" as actual RTs, whereas the ones noted above actually register as mentions, and, while this doesn't matter to most, the RT that counts as a RT is better and more influential for Klout. Not sure why, but apparently that's the case.

Thank you for FINALLY bringing this up. Twitter changed this a while ago, making it impossible to add your own two cents. In addition, if someone RTs your tweet, it doesn't go to your @mentions anymore. It gets buried in the Retweets tab, which I always forget to check. Instead of copying and pasting, I use Hootsuite and Tweetdeck for RTs.

Thank you Teach!

Fantastic advise. Thank you.

How spooky - I just left a comment on a Linked In discussion about Twitter RT's.  
 
I always use the old school RT so I can explain to the originator why I liked their original tweet. However, I have noticed more & more frequently that people are beginning to omit "RT" - whether through genuine error or by design - & making it sound like their own thoughts. Not cool.

Great article, however, I wonder how many people are going to re-tweet this without modifying it the way you suggested.

Thanks for this very good tips and article. I will implement these recommendations immediately.

Hootsuite and Tweetdeck both allow editing with the RT button. Reason #59 not to use Twitter client.

Building strong relationships on Twitter is one of my goals at the moment. I am sure this will help a lot. Thanks for the tip!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Never ever use this way of retweeting! 
Can’t you imagine how fucking annoying it is to get tons of mentions for RTs? 
Some time ago Twitter implemented the feature to receive an email notification for RTs. If you are so profile neurotic, turn on that feature, but NEVER EVER RETWEET MANUALLY!

............or download and use Tweetdeck.

Who doesn't knows this? I mean hey, tell us an automatic way to do RT this way, any tool that RT's this way instead of doing it manually.

Yup Steven, MANY (most, really) third-party Tiwtter apps have an "edit" or "quote" RT function that saves you the copy/paste step. 
 
JS - I'm lucky enough to actually know exactly what it's like to get tons of RT mentions, and I really don't mind. I really like knowing, so that I may try to DM thank them. Not everyone loves email notifications, but if they work for you, that's awesome!  
 
Everyone has their way of using Twitter, and what doesn't work for you might be awesome for many others. 
 
Warmly, 
@Pistachio

I think you need to be careful when you retweet as you need to keep the original message intact. I don't like how you have suggested to alter the original message. If you like the message, just leave it alone. If you want to alter it and keep the original author in the know, then reply to the tweet. RT is like quoting and should really stay that way

the internet is about information, twitter is a feed of information. the RT option is a compliant pyramid form of spam, much like a virus. if you add or change the RT info then the info may become distorted much like chinese whispers. 
 
 
 
RT is a compliment . Marketing is just SPAM.

Wow. Thanks for the tip! I use hootsuite, which allows me to edit the "old school" RT, but have definitely been guilty of being lazy with the oh so convenient RT button.

BTW, if you modify the tweet in ANY way, I highly recommend using MT in lieu of RT since you have modified it! Otherwise, great stuff (of course, I use the classic retweet plug-in whenever possible instead of the "new" retweet because commenting is important to me!)...

Great tip. I downloaded Tweetdeck to be able to add comments to retweets but don't particularly like Tweetdeck. This is a much better alternative. Thanks

Great, great information. Thanks for posting - looking forward to using these strategies on the next website we build for a client.