Bradley Jay: 'Is A Re-tweet An Endorsement?'
Bradley Jay: 'Is A Re-tweet An Endorsement?'
Is a re-tweet tantamount to an endorsement of the sentiment of the original tweet, or is it the mere forwarding of content for inspection of others? This is an important question because if the former is the case, and you re-tweet a message that folks find objectionable, then you could be punished for it by your intimates, your peers, or even your employer.
This is particularly relevant to those in the news business whose job it is to bring you information. A newsperson who is merely making the twitosphere aware of a newsworthy post may be perceived as agreeing with an offensive post rather than passing it on.
Non-newspersons should always attempt to convey their position on the tweet with a couple of words or an ironic hashtag, but this is not an option for newspersons because it is not their place to offer any opinion either way.
In my opinion, a re-tweet is merely passing forward information, but I believe most people disagree with me. And regardless of what I intend, in this case more than most, perception is reality.
Click play to discover the reality of perception on this important dilemma.