What are Twitter Chats?
Twitter Chats or Tweet Chats are scheduled online discussions on Twitter. The organizer will usually ask questions and an expert in a particular field will answer the questions and many times the audience will also. They are usually about an hour in length. And vary in participation and occupancy according to the popularity of the chat. They also vary in topic, there is one for everybody on Twitter.
Tweet Chats are only possible because of the use of the hashtag system set in place by Twitter. Hashtags, a # and word/phrase that follows, are like categories on Twitter. When you search for a particular hashtag the tweets containing it will result. Therefore, in a Tweet Chat every participant must place the chat’s designated hashtag in every tweet to participate.
I will be interchanging the words TWEET CHAT and TWITTER CHAT from now on.
The Roles People Play in Twitter Chats
Audience and Participants
They are why the chat occurs. Without the audience, there is no Tweet Chat.
Find a Tweet Chat you are interested in, catch up on the latest news for that chat and on the day of head over a few minutes early to introduce yourself.
I found that when I am a regular participant AND I participate by asking and answering questions and retweeting the tweets I like, I have gained a few followers on Twitter. These are not random followers, these are targeted and potential networking followers in your niche. What a great way to make friends.
As I mentioned above, Tweet Chats are a great way to make friends. Networking is very important to you blog and business.
One can gain knowledge and great advice from the experts that show up. And, bonus, you sometimes find new people to take advice from and read their works.
Twitter Chats are a great way to learn how Twitter works. Many chats are fast paced so you need to be on your Twitter toes and learn quickly the art of the retweet and reply. But nobody ever knows you are a novice, they only see your beautiful tweets.
You can follow me on Twitter.
Organizer and Leader
As the organizer of a Tweet Chat you get exposure as a leader in your industry because of the knowledge you share and the ability to get other experts to be guests of your blog chat.
You also get to network with experts and novices alike. Building your network and influence couldn’t be easier to do in one simple hour.
Guest Expert
Gain exposure as an expert or leader in an industry. Who wouldn’t want that?
If you have a product, business or blog you would like to expose, this is the place to do it. Your quick answers to questions and replies to participants can help you make sales and more visits to your site.
And not to mention Tweet Chats can lead to larger things like speaking engagements or book deals.
Sponsor
Not every Tweet Chat will have a sponsor, sometimes people just want to get together to chat about a topic and that is perfectly fine.
Yet sponsors can get great exposure to their brand if they are present at a Twitter Chat to answer questions or give something away.
Many times the sponsor is also the guest expert.
Below is an example of a chat I participate in. Mack Collier is the organizer, he also asks the questions and answers. You can also see that Darren Rowse showed up (you never know who will be there). As you can also see I retweeted a tweet I liked from Darren. And someone else retweeted something they liked that I shared. This is very common in Twitter Chats.
What You Need
About an hour of your time.
Calendar to check for your free time and schedule in the Twitter Chat. I use Google Calendar.
Knowledge of the time zones around the world.
What You Should Have
TweetChat.com is a very handy and free website you can use to read all the tweets during a Tweet Chat and it automatically places the hashtag you are follow in your tweet when you share via Tweet Chat. Simply log in with your Twitter ID.
A little knowledge of how Twitter works. This includes how to retweet, place a hashtag in your tweet (Tweet Chat does this automatically for you) and how to reply to someone.
Where can you find Tweet Chats?
Search for “tweet chats” or “tweet chats (your topic)” and you will find some quickly.
For bloggers, #blogchat is awesome and Mack Collier is very knowledgeable and friendly. Every Sunday at 6PM PST.
For women in business, I often participate in the monthly chat at #WGBiz. It takes place on the second Monday at 9 am PST.
Networking and Knowledge
Tweet Chats are surely an enjoyable way to not only network with your peers and audience but the knowledge you gain is irreplaceable.
I’m always looking for Tweet Chats to join, have any interesting ones?
You can always take your Twitter account to the next level and automate your tweets with TweetAdder.