- August 16, 2015
- Posted by: Con P. Sweeney
- Categories: Social Media, Twitter
OK, you’re using social media!
You took my advice and developed a social media program.
You may even have gone further and started using Twitter!
But, how many of you are using Twitter Chat and engaging with your community?
Gotcha!
What’s a Twitter Chat you might ask.
A Twitter Chat is nothing more than a group of people coming together, usually at a set day and time, to have a conversation around a particular hashtag on Twitter. (i.e, #linkedinchat as an example)
The purpose of a Twitter Chat is to take advantage of Twitter’s ability to exchange 140 character messages with large numbers of people easily.
For me the benefits are being able to engage with like minded people on a particular topic with additional cost or effort if you’re already using Twitter. There is no better way to stay current with a topic than using Twitter Chat.
Plus, if you’re on the go like many of us, Twitter Chats lend themselves to to mobile devices quite readily.
Now that I’ve convinced you of their worth, you’re probably wondering where to find Twitter Chats that are relevant to your needs.
There are several ways, which I’ll address in future articles.
For now, check out Twubs where you can easily find chats relevant to your needs.
(Can’t find anything? Then maybe you’re in the wrong line of work! On a more serious note, contact me and I’ll help you.)
Once you find a Twitter Chat that suits your needs then you only have to participate.
This can be done with Twitter itself (not always the best way) or with tools like Hootsuite or Tweet Deck.
(I prefer the latter but Hootsuite has many advantages too. I’ll talk about the differences in the future.)
You’ve got a couple of chats to participate in and a tool, what’s next?
The next step is to jump in and participate.
Approaching a Twitter Chat for the first time, especially a popular one, is like drinking from a fire hose.
My advice is to lurk for a couple of sessions.
Get a sense of how it’s run and how participants interact.
After lurking for a while then jump in and participate!
You have as much right to be there as the next person!
Make participating in Twitter Chats part of your regular routine.
Next, you may want to start thinking about establishing your Twitter Chat.
Just hold that thought for a bit.
This article is the first of several that will discuss Twitter Chats and how they can be used.
I’ll also discuss several Twitter Chats that I know of and are worthwhile attending.
More to come!
That’s it for now!
In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!
I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.
Remember!
I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me. Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.
I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.
My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.
Stay well!