How to Join a Twitter Chat!

Twitter is a great social media platform for people (even strangers!) to come together in an online community and talk about their favorite topics. Have you ever wanted to discuss a topic that your friends or family wasn’t interested in? There are millions of people interested in the same things as you on Twitter! There are even fun discussions that happen on Twitter centered around a specific topic, called Twitter Chats. There are Twitter Chats for virtually every topic out there, and we here at bloom recently held our first Twitter Chat about everything from planners and organization to inspiration and motivation! We received such a positive response from our bloom girls who participated in the chat and we are already working on setting up our next one. For those who want to join but might not be familiar with how Twitter Chats work, we’ve broken it down for you here! Read through our Twitter Chat Checklist and then tune in to our next chat on Monday, December 4 from 1-2PM EST!

1. Follow the host’s account

The person or brand running the Twitter Chat will be posting all of the questions from their account and often Retweeting or replying to others participating in the chat. To make sure you get the most out of the chat and see all of the information being shared by the chat’s host, follow the account that’s running it! Follow us at @bloomplanners on Twitter so you can join in on the fun next time!

2. Introduce yourself!

Most Twitter Chats will prompt users to introduce themselves to each other in the beginning of the chat, but even if they don’t, treat a Twitter Chat like any other interaction and introduce yourself before you start! It’s a great way to get to know the people you’re talking with and in the case of professional chats, a great way to network and potentially find new career opportunities!

We loved getting to virtually meet everyone before we started our chat!

Twitter Chats have a question-answer format, so the host posts the questions in a numbered progression, starting the Tweet with “Q1,” for example. Then, participants share their response to each question by starting their Tweet with “A1,” or whatever number the question was. This makes it easier to see which question each person is responding to so that other users can compare answers and reply to each other when they see answers they like!

4. Reply to Others in the Chat

It’s one thing to just show up to the chat and watch other people respond or throw in a few responses yourself, but it’s even better to talk to other participants aside from the chat’s host and make new connections! Make sure to follow the chat’s hashtag in real time to see all responses and reply to ones that stand out to you! For example, some participants in our last #bloomgirlchat replied to each other congratulating them on major accomplishments or sharing that they were from the same state. It’s a great way to meet new people and bond over shared interests. After all, if you’re both in the same Twitter Chat, you’re both likely interested in the same topic!

5. Follow up Afterwards

When the chat is over, make sure to thank the account for hosting it. Also feel free to connect with/follow other participants you enjoyed chatting with. They likely Tweet about things you’re interested in outside of the chat as well! Twitter chats are a great place to share and gain new ideas and build your network, so take advantage of it! Make sure to follow us on Twitter @bloomplanners to stay up to date and join in on our next Twitter Chat on December 4th! 

xoxo,

Kristina