ReTweeting without the RT is stealing

I know that most non-tech savvy people have a hard time getting their arms around Twitter, as do I at times.  In recent months Twitter’s growth has been exponential so it’s possible that new users aren’t sure how to properly retweet a tweet, got it?  Good.

A Retweet is: A way for Twitter users to share Tweets or information that they find helpful or useful from someone they follow.

Ok, cool, but how do I ReTweet?

Glad you asked, according to Mashable here is the correct way to ReTweet:

Copy and paste the original tweet and send it out. To give credit to the original person, users usually put “RT” plus the originator’s username at the beginning of the tweet. Here’s an example:

– The Twitter user @benparr tweets: I just heard that Apple is releasing new iPods in July!

– You retweet by posting RT @benparr I just heard that Apple is releasing new iPods in July!

So unless you’re lazy or don’t understand simple examples there is no reason not to use the RT @username to give the original author credit.  Without the RT your followers don’t know that the tweet came from someone else and that’s just not fair.