LET’S CHAT!
Twitter chats have been around for quite a while but I have only recently started to participate. Although unintentional I had been on a social media hiatus and was looking for ways to re-engage. My friend and HR colleague Joel Peterson (follow him at @joelyoh) shared one of his commitments, which I thought was a great idea — participate in a Twitter chat several times a week.
Here’s how they work – The chat is held at a specific day and time. You join the chat by following a particular hashtag. The hashtag is used in all the tweets – creating a “stream of conversation”. In most cases there is a moderator who leads the chat by posting questions one at a time. The questions are numbered…Q1, Q2, Q3. When someone posts a response, proper “chat etiquette” requires starting the answer with a corresponding number…A1, A2, A3.
“Chatting” Tips
- Introduce yourself at the beginning or re-tweet to let participants know you are there.
- Interact with others by responding to someone’s comments or starting a side conversation.
- Re-tweet questions and responses, however be sensitive to the number of re-tweets overall.
- Chats are usually fast paced: Use an aggregator and/or favorite tweets for later review or to follow.
- Thank the host and other participants at the end of the chat.
Favorite Chats (so far):
#Leadwithgiants – Mondays at 7:00 pm EST – Led by @DanVForbes the chat is about leadership, life lessons and business.
#nextchat – Wednesdays at 3:00 pm EST – Usually has guest facilitators and is hosted by SHRM’s We Know Next blog.
#tchat – Wednesdays at 7:00 pm EST – Hosted by @meghanmbiro and @kevinwgrossmantopics include leadership, talent management, HR, social workplace and HR technology.
Chats I plan to check out:
#chat2lrn – Thursdays at 11:00 am ET – Facilitated by @lesleywprice with a wide range of topics under the banner of learning.
#swchat – Thursdays at 4:00 pm ET – Hosted by @LizCpher global participants on subjects relating to the social workplace.
#lrnchat – Thursdays at 8:30 pm ET – Topics focus on how people learn formally, informally, social and mobile. @LnDDave, @quinnovator, @cammybean and @janebozarth. The official twitter account is @lrnchat.
#socialmedia – Tuesdays at 12:00 pm ET – Hosted by @jasonbreed and @marc_meyer topics focus on all things social media.
#HBRchat – Thursdays at 1:00 ET – Hosted by the editors of Harvard Business Review Magazine (@HBRexchange). Topics are usually related to recent articles.
#pinchat – Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET – Hosted by @tribe2point0. Discussions center around all things Pinterest.
#linkedinchat – Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET – All things Linkedin – questions, tips and advice. Hosted by @linkedinexpert and @martinehunter.
There are hundreds of chats on twitter – something for everyone. The ones above are just a few of the ones that have caught my interest. Every chat has it’s own personality and regular group of participants. Try some out and stick with the ones that resonate with you. Let me know where you are engaging in the conversation!
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