Do you know what a tweet chat is? Also sometimes referred to as a “Twitter party,” a tweet chat is a live discussion that happens on Twitter; tweets in the discussion thread are identified by the use of a common hashtag (for example, #nptech is a common hashtag used to discuss nonprofit technology topics).

Tweet chats are held to bring Twitter users together to have a discussion on a pre-designated topic, sometimes functioning as a means to provide online training on a subject.

Organizing a tweet chat is easy and a great way to provide your Twitter followers with a reason to come together, connect, share, and learn. If you’ve never organized a tweet chat, the steps outlined below provide the guide you need:

1. Choose your topic and decide if this will be a general conversation or a training discussion. While choosing your topic, decide if your tweet chat is to be a one-off event or part of a series. A tweet chat series is ideal for broad topics that can be broken up into smaller sub-topics.
2. Decide on a unique hashtag for your tweet chat. If you are unsure as to whether the hashtag you would like is already in use a quick search on Twitter or sites like What the Trend and TagDef can easily answer that question. Should you decide to use What the Trend or TagDef, consider registering and defining your hashtag if it is not already in use to allow others to understand what the conversation is all about.
3. Choose a date and time in which the tweet chat will be held; be specific about the time zone to avoid confusion. If your tweet chat is designed to be an ongoing online event, make sure that your chosen time is one you can commit to for as long as your tweet chat series is to take place.
4. Develop a script to guide discussion. Consider the most commonly and infrequently asked questions on your topic to provoke discussion. Develop answers to have at the ready and keep short links available to helpful resources.
5. Promote! Use available social media channels to get the word out about the tweet chat. A blog post detailing what the tweet chat is all about can be a valuable promotional tool. Direct message Twitter followers who are in the habit of retweeting you, asking for their help in promoting your upcoming tweet chat. And use related hashtags to cast a wider net to others who might be interested in participating.
6. On the day of the tweet chat, sign into TweetChat.com for the conversation. TweetChat.com will display the conversation in real time and automatically append the hashtag to each tweet. TweetChat.com offers a tool to help block unwanted spammers from the discussion. Other useful tweet chat tools allow moderators to pause the conversation when needed and to feature people such as special expert guests.
7. To be an effective tweet chat moderator all you need is good facilitation skills. Recognize valuable contributions by retweeting and thanking your fellow tweet chat participants. Be mindful of spending too much time on any one question and know when to move the conversation along. Also, leave some time aside for questions from your audience.
8. After your tweet chat, consider making a complete transcript of the chat available or writing a recap blog post. A tool like RowFeeder can be particularly handy for capturing a transcript of the chat in Microsoft Excel format. 

Have you run a tweet chat at your organization? If so, share any other tips on how you run your Twitter events in the comments section below! You can also visit pre-event posts and recaps from some of our recent tweet chats to see topics we've covered and tweets we've highlighted as examples of how we share our events.

Photo: josie4628