Don’t Embarrass Yourself: Read Before Retweeting

You can retweet something in an instant with just a few taps or clicks. Tap, tap and zoom – the RT goes to all your followers. You get a good feeling when you retweet something that your followers will enjoy or find really helpful.

But, what if the link in the retweet doesn’t exactly say what the tweet suggests it does? Or, what if the contents of the link make statements that you just don’t agree with? Or, what if the tweet suggests the link contains something really good, but it really is a few hollow statements making a weak sales pitch? Or, what if the link takes you to some NSFW (not-suitable-for work) content?

Oops! In each of these four scenarios you will have unhappy followers,

Remember that friends and strangers alike will judge by your words and retweeted links. The lesson is simple: always read the links in any tweet you intend to retweet.

And a bonus tip (addressing one of my biggest pet peaves): if you are going to tweet or retweet something that requires a registration or login, please explicitly state this is the case.

Tweet with care and caution!