How to Participate in a Twitter Chat | Tweet Chat

To get started on Twitter it is always useful to participate on a Twitter chat.

What is a Twitter Chat?
Twitter Chats are subject specific gatherings on Twitter usually held weekly at the same time.
I find these alternatively referred to as tweet chats.

Twitter Chats are hosted by the founder or a couple of people who share the hosting. Sometimes a special guest co-host is brought in.

Why are Twitter Chats a Good Thing
On a chat you will meet people interested in a particular topic.

If you are just getting started on Twitter, at first it seems like no one hears you. On a Twitter chat, you are much more likely to be heard and enjoy interaction.

Twitter chats give you the opportunity to meet other people that you will want to follow and have a relationship with on Twitter. It is a good idea to engage them in some conversation because just following alone may not get a follow back if they don’t recognize you.

My client Jai Roberts started participating on the twitter chat called #GardenChat soon after she got on Twitter and it was a perfect fit for her. It’s always great to find a Twitter chat where not only can you learn, you can add value.

How To Participate
It is good to show up a little bit early. The first tweets will tell you what the twitter chat is about that time and allow participants to introduce themselves.

To find the chat, you will “search” for the #name of the chat. Let’s use #BlogChat, #MediaChat, and #CustServ as examples. All twitter chats have a name with no space that starts with #.

All of the tweets related to the Twitter chat will show up in that search stream.

Useful to Have Columns to Follow Twitter Chat
Personally, I like to do Twitter chats using a Twitter platform called Hootsuite. There are other platforms that allow you to make columns based on lists and search. This is one of them.

I set up one column to “search” the word #BlogChat or #MediaChat

The column next to it, I set up to search my twitter name without the @. There I will be able to see both mentions of me and my sent tweets.

I need to remember to add #blogchat (or #MediaChat, #CustServ) to every tweet.

It is easy to “retweet” on Hootsuite, adding a comment which is useful in a Twitter Chat. The #blogchat “hash tag” is already there in the tweet that I am retweeting.

Aside from tracking the chat with the two columns on Hootsuite, I have my iPhone nearby buzzing mentions through an app I use called Boxcar.

Many people like to use Twitter chat tools that automatically insert the hashtag of the chat so that you don’t forget it. Brandwatch listed the top 10 in 2015. This includes a tool that also tracks trending hashtags: Hashtags.org.

Don’t Worry if You Can’t Follow Everything
BlogChat is one of the first Twitter Chats and very active. If you are interested in blogging and would like to meet other bloggers and learn more about having a successful blog, this is a good chat for you.

Don’t worry if you can’t follow everything. The chat stream will go by very quickly. Just jump in where you can. If is Open Mic night you can ask any question you like relevant to blogging. You can answer someone who has commented or asked a question.

The more you come back to the same Twitter chats, the easier it will be as people will recognize you. But don’t be afraid to contribute. Just jump in!

Twitter Chat Schedule
Several lists of Twitter Chats have come and gone. This one call Twitter Chat Schedule is currently working.

The Twitter chat known as #custserv is useful for both corporate and small business issues related to customer service. This is a well developed chat hosted by my friend Marsha Collier on Tuesdays at 9PM ET.

#MediaChat is Thursdays at 7pm PST.

Please Don’t Spam
Don’t use Twitter Chat hash tags to just drop in a link to your website if you are not actually participating at the time. People will notice and you will do yourself more harm than good.

Come Join Me on MediaChat June 8th at 7pm PST!

The topic is Personal Branding.

I recommend you consider this question in advance:

What are the unique characteristics that define your personal brand?

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The creator and host of BlogChat, Mack Collier was traveling home from BlogWorld and I guest hosted Nov 6, 2011 in his place.

BlogChat starts at 9PM ET, 8PM Central, 6PM PST, 4PM Hawaii Time each Sunday and officially go for an hour but there is a warm up that is already going on and a cool down after the chat is over.

The last Sunday of the month is Open Mic which means that you can ask any question you like and the chat is quite free-wheeling.