Expanding Visibility on Twitter: Author and Message Characteristics and Retweeting

Abstract

Retweeting is not simply to get messages out to new audiences, but also to validate and engage with others. Using a content analysis of 3,429 tweets about the South Korean Anti-Terrorism Act of 2016, this study finds that the tweets created by civil society, political actors, and mass media/journalists are more likely to be retweeted than the tweets written by ordinary individuals, suggesting the role of heuristic strategy. This study also finds that content factors influence retweeting. Emotionally toned tweets are more likely to be retweeted, and rationality of tweets moderates the association between author types and retweeting.