What Does RT Mean? Retweet, Repost and Real Talk
RT stands for retweet: sharing someone else’s post with your own followers on X, formerly Twitter, where the Retweet button has been called Repost since 2023. In a text or a comment, though, RT often means “real talk”, as in “honestly”.
Which one you’re looking at depends on where you saw it.
What Does RT Mean? Check Where You Saw It
Look at what comes straight after the RT. An @username means retweet; the start of a sentence in a text usually means real talk.
| Where you saw it | Example | What RT means there |
|---|---|---|
| An older post on X or Twitter | RT @username: Storm warning extended to 9pm | Retweet: a post copied and credited by hand |
| A text, DM or comment | rt this is the best album of the year | Real talk: honestly, for real |
| A post asking for shares | RT if you still use a paper planner | Please repost this |
| A bio | Views my own. RTs ≠ endorsements. | My reposts are not agreement |
| A news or politics thread | According to RT… | The Russian state-controlled network, formerly Russia Today |
| A hospital chart or job ad | RT needed on the night shift | Respiratory therapist |
“RT if…” posts are engagement bait. X’s spam policy targets coordinating or paying for reposts, not asking, but Facebook said in December 2017 it would show posts like “LIKE this if you’re an Aries!” less in News Feed.
Table of Contents
- What Does RT Mean? Check Where You Saw It
- Is a Retweet Now Called a Repost?
- What Is the Difference Between a Repost and a Quote?
- What Do Other Apps Call a Repost?
- How Do You Undo a Repost or See Who Reposted?
- What Does RT Mean in a Bio?
- What Does RT Mean When Texting?
- What Do HT, MT and QRT Mean?
- What Else Can RT Stand For?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Retweet Now Called a Repost?
Yes. On X, a retweet is officially a repost, and a quote tweet is a quote. The Retweet button was relabelled Repost in 2023 as part of Twitter’s rebrand to X, and X’s updated Terms of Service swapped “retweet” for “repost” from 29 September 2023, as Tech Times reported.
Only the nouns changed. In 2019, Twitter’s Help Center glossary said “a Tweet that you forward to your followers is known as a Retweet.” X’s glossary now says “a post that you forward to your followers is known as a Repost.”
People still say retweet out of habit, even though X no longer has a button by that name.
Where the Manual RT Format Came From
RT began as a habit users invented, not a feature. You pasted someone’s tweet into your own and typed “RT @username” in front to credit them. Announcing “Project Retweet” in August 2009, co-founder Biz Stone called it a convention users had come up with themselves; the built-in button began rolling out that November. Twitter’s 2013 glossary still defined RT as the “abbreviated version of ‘retweet’”, placed before the retweeted text “when users manually retweet a message”.
What Is the Difference Between a Repost and a Quote?
A repost shares a post exactly as it is; a quote shares it inside a new post of your own, with your comment on top.
- Repost (formerly retweet): one tap, no added words. It appears in your followers’ timelines under your name, and likes and replies still go to the original.
- Quote (formerly quote tweet, or QRT): your own post with the original embedded. According to X’s Help Center, when people reply to your quote, the original author “will not be automatically added to the conversation” unless you mention them.
Quote rather than repost when you disagree; a bare repost just spreads it. The quote began in 2014 as “retweet with comment” and became the quote tweet before X shortened it. The quoted post “does not count towards the character limit”, so only your comment has to fit, and the free X character counter shows how much room is left.
What Do Other Apps Call a Repost?
Most major apps have a repost and a way to quote, under different names, and they differ in who sees the plain repost.
| App | Plain share | Share with your comment | Where the plain share shows up |
|---|---|---|---|
| X | Repost | Quote | Your followers’ timelines and your profile |
| Threads | Repost | Quote | Your followers’ Following feed and your profile |
| Bluesky | Repost | Quote post | Your followers’ Following feed and your profile |
| Repost (since August 2025) | Add a note, or share it to your Story | A Reposts tab on your profile, and recommended to friends’ and followers’ feeds | |
| TikTok | Repost | Stitch or Duet | At its 2022 test, friends’ For You feeds rather than your profile |
| Repost | Repost with your thoughts | Your network’s feeds | |
| Share | Share to Feed with your own text | Your profile and friends’ feeds, per your audience setting |
Threads, Meta’s text-based app, mirrors X almost exactly; Bluesky has let you detach your post from someone’s quote of it since August 2024. Instagram’s row comes from Meta’s August 2025 launch post, TikTok’s from TechCrunch’s January 2022 report on the test, so check your own app. Tumblr calls it a reblog, Mastodon a boost.
Reposting is one tap in each app. Writing your own post in each app’s format is the slow part, and it’s what Outfeed AI does from one chat, with per-platform previews.
How Do You Undo a Repost or See Who Reposted?
To undo a repost on X, tap the highlighted Repost icon and choose Undo Repost. X’s Help Center says that removes it from your profile and other timelines, though it “may still appear on mobile devices displaying cached timelines”. A quote is your own post: delete it from the post’s menu.
To see who shared a post, open it and check its engagements, where reposts and quotes are listed separately.
What Does RT Mean in a Bio?
“RTs ≠ endorsements” means “my reposts aren’t my opinion”. It usually sits beside “views my own”, for anyone tempted to screenshot a repost as proof.
It only partly works. The BBC’s staff guidance is blunt: “disclaimers do not offer protection”, and staff should “think about what your likes, shares, reposts, use of hashtags and who you follow say about you”. To criticise something, quote it and say so. Brand accounts should skip the disclaimer: followers read a company’s reposts as on-message.
One exception: in a healthcare worker’s bio, RT or RRT is a job title, respiratory therapist or registered respiratory therapist.
What Does RT Mean When Texting?
In texts, DMs and comments, RT usually means “real talk”: honestly, seriously, no joke. Dictionary.com defines real talk as “frankly; seriously (used to introduce a statement or question)”, which is how the abbreviation works: “rt, I think we should leave early”, or a one-word reply meaning “so true”. Crowd-written Urban Dictionary ranks real talk as its top RT definition, above retweet (checked 25 September 2026).
- Followed by an @username or a copied post? Retweet.
- Opening a sentence, or standing alone as a reply? Real talk.
Lowercase “rt” can also just mean “right”. As a one-word reply, both land on agreement.
What Do HT, MT and QRT Mean?
HT (or h/t) means “hat tip”, a credit to whoever pointed you to something; MT means “modified tweet”; QRT means “quote retweet”. Twitter’s 2013 glossary defined HT as “a way of acknowledging the person who originally shared the content being tweeted”, and MT as a manual retweet “with modifications, for example shortening a Tweet”, which mattered when tweets were capped at 140 characters.
| Shorthand | Stands for | What it signals |
|---|---|---|
| RT | Retweet | Someone else’s post, shared unchanged |
| MT | Modified tweet | Someone else’s post, shared with edits |
| QRT or QT | Quote retweet, quote tweet | A post shared with a comment on top |
| HT or h/t | Hat tip | Thanks to whoever led you to the link |
| #FF | Follow Friday | A weekly shout-out of accounts worth following |
Credit shorthand outlived the button: on Instagram and TikTok it’s IB, short for “inspired by”. #FF was a hashtag; for how tags work today, see our guide to hashtags on X. For the rest of the alphabet, browse the Outfeed AI social media glossary.
What Else Can RT Stand For?
Outside social media, every other RT meaning comes with a setting that gives it away.
- RT, the TV network: Russia’s state-controlled international news network, formerly Russia Today, which rebranded as RT in 2009.
- Medicine: respiratory therapy or respiratory therapist, and radiation therapy. In nursing notes, r/t is short for “related to”.
- Film and TV: Rotten Tomatoes, as in “92% on RT”.
- Directions and football: rt. is short for right (Dictionary.com), and in American football an RT is a right tackle.
On Instagram specifically, the native Repost button arrived in August 2025 and works differently from a Story share — see what repost means on Instagram.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does RT mean on X (Twitter)?
RT means retweet: sharing another account’s post with your followers. Since Twitter’s 2023 rebrand to X the button says Repost, so a retweet is now a repost. An old post opening with RT @username is a manual retweet, copied and credited by hand.
Does someone get notified when you repost them on X?
Usually, yes: X’s Notifications timeline lists reposts of your posts alongside mentions, likes and new followers. With quotes, X’s Help Center notes that replies don’t automatically include the original author, so mention them to bring them in.
What does RT mean when texting?
In texts, DMs and comments, RT usually means real talk: frankly, seriously. It opens a sentence, as in “rt, I’m exhausted”, or stands alone as a reply meaning “so true”. Followed by an @username, it means retweet.
What does HT mean on social media?
HT, also written h/t, means hat tip: a credit to whoever pointed you to a link or idea, as in “Great read (h/t @username)”. Twitter’s 2013 Help Center glossary called it a way of acknowledging the person who originally shared the content.