What on earth is all the hullabaloo about “twitter chats?” Between Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Vine social media can be more intimidating than a wrestling duel with Vin Diesel, or a game of tennis against the Williams sisters. Never fear, “twitter chats” are surprisingly straightforward and can even be a lot of fun! Essentially you are sharing a conversation with others about topics you love and are interested in. What is so scary about that?! Even better, you have us to hold your hand and walk you through the twitter chat game.
Let’s start of by defining what a twitter chat is. A twitter chat is when a group of people utilize a specific hashtag to tweet about the same topic at a certain time. The hashtag allows Twitter to follow the conversation, and thereby THE TWITTER CHAT is born.
Now, that you understand what kind of trouble you are trying to get in, let’s cover how to actually participate. Here, you will find a list of twitter chats that you can join. Don’t see something that strikes your fancy? Start your own TC! You’ll notice that every chat has a moderator and a specific time that the conference takes place. The moderator welcomes TChatters and keeps the conversation on track by asking relevant questions.
When engaging in a twitter chat it is important to use “twitter etiquette.” Before you even begin, you may want to tweet about the chat, in order to warn followers that you are about to be very active for a given period of time.
Most importantly, remember that a twitter chat is NOT code word for self-promotion. That is just annoying. Are you part of the Kardashian clan? No? Good, then you are aware that too much self-promotion is not a good look. In fact, it is a little irritating. Leave that for another time and place. Twitter chats are for discussion.
Looking for an easier and clearer way to follow a chat? Luckily for you, there are plenty of sites that allow you to pursue the chat thread exclusively and participate effortlessly. Some of our favorite sites are Tweetchat.com, TweetGrid.com, Twubs.com, and Twitterfall.com. Additionally you can use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to follow specific hashtags (this is great if you’ve created a brand sensitive hashtag and want to respond quickly).
At the end of the day, twitter chats are quite the party! They are a great way to gain some more knowledge about topics you are interested in, network, and meet people who love the same things that you do. You have nothing to lose and only some amazing conversation to gain! Don’t be shy, try it out!
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