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"At this point, a fair number of Twitter users have the new retweet feature enabled (and if you're not one of them, don't worry, the rollout continues).  \nWhile we\u2019ve weighed both the pros and the cons based on the early descriptions and screenshots provided by Twitter, company co-founder and CEO Evan Williams has taken to his blog to detail why exactly Twitter is making this change and why he believes it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s best interests.Up front, perhaps the most important thing to know is that \u201Cold-school retweets\u201D as Williams calls them will still be supported \u2013 so even if you don\u2019t like the new feature or its rationale, you can still use Twitter the way you do now (though, the interface will still be a bit different, both on the website and third-party clients, most of which Williams says are adopting the new system).\nIn his post, Williams outlines the things he thinks the new system solves: attribution confusion, messages becoming messy or broken in the Twitter version of a game of telephone, and the repetitive and noisy nature of retweets as they exist currently.  The features that solve that are showing the original author of the retweet, consolidating retweeters under that message, and not allowing comments (though, it's not ruled out for the future).\nWhat does all of it add up to?  In Williams\u2019 words \u201Ca more powerful system for helping people find out what's happening now that they care about.\u201D  That\u2019s not at all dissimilar to what Facebook (and previously FriendFeed) has done with \u201CLikes,\u201D using the data to highlight the top stories from your friends.  \nOf course, in Twitter\u2019s case, much also depends on how developers implement the new feature.  With a large portion of the Twitter community accessing the service via clients and mobile apps, it will be these implementations that help the feature sink or swim based on the perceived value it provides.  \nIf you\u2019re still undecided about the new retweet system, we suggest giving Williams\u2019 post a thorough read.  Meanwhile, if you\u2019ve got the feature enabled, let us know what you think in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/11/11/twitter-retweets-explained/>