Introducing The DeTweet

Like many others, we’ve jumped into twitter-nation with both feet over the last few months. The simple efficiency and surprising range of benefits to both writing and reading have impressed us.

But there are limitations and problems too.

Some of these make me question the long term viability of the model – if I had to bet I’d say the system crashes under the weight of its own success (and the various forms of abuse by its users) in the not too distant future. But we’ll see.

One of the cool and useful twitterisms is the Re-Tweet. It’s a way to pass along something cool or interesting to your own circle of followers. Re-tweeting is an affirmation.

But what about tweets you disagree with? Not things you’re neutral about, but information that you think is actually lowering our collective knowledge or IQ.

Shouldn’t there be a way to tell the world ‘I don’t think think this is right.’?

Particularly in a somewhat technical discipline like paid search (#ppc) it pains me to see things flying by, spreading across the twitt-o-sphere and into the information starved eyes of young trusting paid search practitioners, that just ain’t true. Or aren’t exactly right. Or could be easily mis-understood. You get the idea.

Reading one this morning gave me the idea for the De-Tweet.

With the 140 character limit there is no room to both reference the original tweet and make the counter-point.

So I’m going to just De-Tweet it in the same way people Re-Tweet stuff.

I hope to start a trend.

The DeTweet Defined:

DeTweet (AKA: De-Tweet or DT) = Passing along the tweet of another with some degree of disapproval. It can range from strong (that’s a lie) to mild (there are exceptions or conditions). It shouldn’t be taken as impolite or unfriendly – it’s done in the spirit of twitterville – as a new way to participate in the conversation. Of course elaboration and counter arguments can be made in follow on tweets or blog posts.

But at least you don’t have to sit idly by and just wince anymore.

Or at least I don’t.

What do you think?

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(Looking for a paid search tweeter you can retweet and/or detweet? Follow us @clickequations.)