How to Participate in a Twitter Party

We are so excited to have your join our Twitter parties!

Many of you are new to Twitter and some of you have never participated in a Twitter party before. Here are a few guidelines, tips and tricks to make this week’s chat totally painless and hopefully FUN!

Twitter parties are one big fun (moderated) conversation. Think of it like a presidential debate…without all the awkwardness and politics.

Each week #SNAPChat will focus on a different subject. We’ll hit all sorts of topics from this week’s Thanksgiving recipe highlights, to blogging tips and New Years Resolutions.

The moderator (@snapconf) will ask questions throughout the chat like: “Q1-What is your favorite Thanksgiving recipe?” Your job? Simply answer the question. Make sure you include the #SNAPChat hastag so your comment can be tracked and responded to by others.

Twitter-

• If you don’t have Twitter yet, sign up for an account. It’s quick, easy and certainly not as scary as you may think. (Be sure to check out our tips for a great Twitter account.)
• Use a third party Twitter application to make your experience easy and more organized.  There are many applications like TweetDeck and HootSuite to help you keep up to date on your favorite Twitter friends.
• Play around on Twitter and get used to @replies (people responding to your tweets), re-tweets, DM’s (direct messages) and sending links and photos.
• Twitter isn’t a private conversation. See a conversation you’re interested in? Join in.
• Re-Tweet questions and answers that you find interesting – chances are other’s will find them interesting too.
• If you have a great idea or a question,  ASK.  We’re all about connecting and sharing.

Hashtags-

• You will see #hashtags floating around the Twitterverse.  Hashtags are an easy way to categorize tweets (or have a little fun).
•  The easiest way to stay up to date with #SNAPChat is to search the hashtag.
• Add the hashtag #SNAPChat to your tweets when participating in the Twitter party/chat (we’re going to share an automated option for this). This allows others to follow what you are saying and respond.

Now that we’ve got down some of the basics…It’s time to PARTY!

We recommend following the chat via a third party tool like TweetChat to help you follow along and join in on the fun.

• Sign in with your Twitter username and password.
• TweetChat/Tweetgrid automatically will add the #SNAPChat hashtag for you.
• The questions from moderators will be formatted with Q1, Q2, Q3 etc etc etc.  Respond with your answer by putting a A1, A2, A3 in front of your answers.

• The first column helps you follow any tweets with the #SNAPChat hashtag
• The second column includes any tweets from @snapconf, @sahans, and @taunitweets
• The last column will be for you.  Enter your twitter name and all @replies or re-tweets will show up here.
• You can respond, re-tweet, and DM from any column.
• You can send original tweets from the top box.

So there you have it. Twitter parties in a nutshell. Do you have any lingering questions you would like to ask?

See you there!