Twitter has delayed its Project Retweet while it fixes a number of errors. Only a small number of users had the new feature, which cleans up the ad hoc nature of retweeting, or re-broadcasting someone else's tweet to your followers with your name on it.
We think retweets are a mess, and welcome Project Retweet. But the feature has proved controversial. Twitter boss Evan Williams explained the implementation of the new feature in his blog. The main objection to Project Retweet is that strangers appear in your feed, as you see the original tweet rather than your friend's second-hand version of it. This includes the original user's avatar picture, as well as a count of how many other people have retweeted the post.
An early fault prompted Justine Bateman, Family Ties star turned Internet production type, to think she was being spammed by the hapless retweetees. There's an option to turn off your friends' retweets, but we'd like an option to turn off retweets from a particular source. This would keep all the celebrity wittering out of your feed. An option to turn off all retweets would also be welcome.
Many users are upset that Project Retweet removes the ability to annotate retweets. We think this is a good thing: it removes the ability to adulterate or misattribute a tweet. If you desperately have to annotate, just use the RT copy-and-paste method that everyone uses now. Williams notes annotation could be added to Project Retweet further down the line.
Not everyone is impressed. CNET UK reader ruskkky told us, "I've got the retweet. Is this meant to be exciting?" and, "I think the more useful feature is the notification of new tweets at the top of the page. No need to refresh the page anymore."