The recent case of retweeting trouble was the event in which an online twitter enthusiast @zeebook tweeted ”@zebbook: If Jesus criticises Jonathan’s govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with Mary Magdalene.” in an apparent reflection as to how the President’s political apointees and associates defend his policies blindly. That was not the problem and people hardly noticed – then the former minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasir el rufai retweeted the message. Several people and traditional media , Christian organisations and other politicians have chosen the opportunity to vilify a man whose down to earth and forthright nature is enough to scare any politician. While I do not hold brief for Mallam, I belief political scallywags jumped at an opportunity to hit back at him. Mallam Nasir, whom I had met several times is not a religious bigot and deals with everyone based on their personal values. However, can he be held responsible for a retweet? People will do, because word shape perceptions and therefore demands responsibility from the Twitizen. Ok, back to how to retweet responsibly Even though I have heard the cliche that retweets are not endorsements we both know people will still hold you responsible for what you choose to share (or retweet). Here’s an example: of me retweeting the Present Coordinating Minister of the Nigerian economy who used Twitter to congratulate the Super Eagles of Nigeria after winning the 2013 African Nations Cup. 
The ‘retweet’ button has an inherent flaw – what you tweet by hitting the button does not allow you edit or add anything to what is retweeted. You even never have the opportunity to add your own opinion and the person who originally tweeted the 140 characters may never know you tweeted. So how do you retweet without getting into trouble? Kindly avoid the retweet button. For this one, you may want to go the manual route. 1. Copy the entire tweet, which should include the @name and paste into the compose tweet box. Yes, check links to verify you are not spreading porn (I know that looks dumb, but most of us do it). 
2. Edit the tweet. Delete the real name (if it was copied along) and any unessential characters that came over when you copied and pasted. Type “RT @” (R-T-space-@) at the very front of the tweeter handle. So many other third party twitter client have this sorted but you need to do your due diligence. 
– The Twitter user @NOIweala Super Eagles are soaring, and so would Nigeria”. You have reignited that belief in every Nigerian. Thank you! Thank you!
– I retweeted: RT @NOIweala Super Eagles are soaring, and so would Nigeria”. You have reignited that belief in every Nigerian. Thank you! Thank you!
Some other desktop and mobile applications make these two processes simple.
i. Tweetdeck: Tweetdeck is a very popular desktop application for running Twitter on your desktop. With the owerful feature to manage many accounts it also helps in responsible tweeting.
ii. Hootsuite/Seesmic Desktop: This was the former Twhirl and a now a part of Hootsuite. This is available for both mobile and desktop users. It also allows for multiple account management, multiple social media channels and schedling posts. So before you retweet that message, stop and re-consider.
Have fun retweeting!
