I’m writing this post as though you are familiar with Twitter. If you aren’t, take a look my previous blog post “Why Aren’t You Tweeting Yet?” Then come back here and finish reading…

I recently participated in an awesome tweetchat with THE CEO Mamma Network via #theceomamma. Let me tell you, these are some energetic ladies that are wonderful at sharing tips, info, and insight with each other! During the chat I learned several of the participants had never participated in a tweet chat, it was their first time! I’m so used to tweeting that I took the “tweet chat” concept for granted. In keeping with this month’s topic – social media - I thought I’d give a brief overview of a tweet chat.

A tweet chat is a Twitter conversation with a group of people, it might be 10, it could be 300. I like to think of it as a group meeting. Using a designated #hashtag, a person(s) sends out a tweet as an invitation to join the chat, and he/she will include the #hashtag to follow, along with the designated date, time and topic for the chat.

When the tweet chat ”meeting” begins, you can follow along using the basic Twitter platform, a social media dashboard like HootSuite or TweetDeck, or by using Tweetchat, which is probably the most popular way to follow and join the discussion. If you’re not familiar with the different platforms, post a question as a comment and I’ll give you some pointers.

Tweet chats are a goldmine! Think about it: a tweet chat provides an opportunity for exposure to a group of people who are interested in a particular topic. Can you say “target market“, “demographic profile“, “networking opportunity“?

You can participate in a number of ways:

• lurk and observe the discussion
• tweet a “hello I’m here” to the participants
• ask questions and provide answers
• learn more on a new subject
• get to know the people interested in certain topics
• find new people to follow

…the list goes on and on. Your objectives for participating will vary; sometimes I lurk, other times I’m in the q&a, but I always find new people to follow. Often times the twitter stream is so rich in content I save the stream so I can go over the info I learned and make notes (which I did for the #theceomamma tweet chat).

So be on the lookout for tweet chats in your field, and when you arrive at the meeting announce yourself, and if you’re ready, join the conversation! Seize the tweet chat opportunity!

Ciao,
Miss Kemya