How to Participate in a Twitter Party

Today I received a comment on an old post asking me how to participate in a Twitter party. It’s time for a tutorial for those who want to join us for our weekly Friday night sitewarmings and other special events!

How to Party Like a Twitter Pro:
Twitter began as a micro-blogging site answering the question “What are you doing,” moved into the realm of old school chat rooms, and then exploded with global popularity. Millions of “tweeps” utilize Twitter for a variety of purposes, one of them being Twitter parties or events.

In September of 2008, I invented SiteWarming™ parties on Twitter to help launch new sites, products, platforms and more. One of the first organized chats on Twitter and the first to use a panel of experts to drive a topical and informative conversation, SiteWarmings now occur often more than once a week and usually include fun prizes as well as great conversation and valuable resource sharing.
How They Work:
By tweeting with the same hashtag, or # sign followed by a key word, all tweets following the same topic are searchable. All tweets using this hashtag can then be located via search and appear in conversation format, much like chat rooms of the past.
How to Participate:
1. Step One – Open a Twitter Account: While anyone can watch what is occurring on Twitter by going to www.summize.com and searching for a party hashtag, in order to participate you must have a Twitter account to contribute your “tweets” or posts of 140 characters or less.

2. Choose a Twitter Platform: The best platforms to use during a SiteWarming party are TweetChat (www.tweetchat.com) or TweetGrid (www.tweetgrid.com). If you are new to Twitter, TweetChat is your best bet. Log on with your Twitter ID and password and when prompted to join a room, type in the party’s hashtag. By using these platforms there is no need to manually type in the hashtag keyword at the end of each tweet. Tweetchat will take care of that for you! You are also able to change the update speed and reply to other participants.

3. Tweet! You’ll most likely be asked at the beginning of the event to follow and keep an eye on the panelists or experts for the night. Feel free to ask them direct questions by tweeting with their “@”. For example, if you’d like to speak to me you would tweet:
“@ResourcefulMom This is the question that I have. #topichashtag”

It is also perfectly fine to jump into other conversations and reply to others’ questions. These events are a free for all!

Any questions?

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