What is a Twitter Chat or Tweet Chat?

I hate chat rooms.

They remind me of AOL’s earliest and creepiest days.

People were all over those things.

But what about a Tweet Chat, or Twitter Chat, or Twitter Tweet Chat?

I know. You are thinking, “Huh?”

Tons of people have asked me this question lately. What is a Twitter Chat?

Great question.

Here are some of the basic fundamentals  of what a Twitter Chat is?

1) A Community

Sure, there are distasteful communities of people in every city and online. But a good Twitter Chat is a community of likeminded people.

This community meets on a regular basis. They discuss a topic. They share ideas. They move on.

But they also become friends. If you aren’t connecting with people outside of Twitter, give it a shot (by phone first).

2) A Learning Lab

Twitter Chats are a great place to learn. People are brilliant.

Typically these chats have 6-10 questions posed by a moderator. The group answers each one in sequence.

You’ll find it easy to attend a Twitter Chat and just observe.

Twitter Chats are a great place to learn. People are brilliant. Click To Tweet

3) A Free Flow of Ideas Around a HashTag

A hashtag is nothing more than the “pound” sign (#) followed by any given word, numbers, or combination of both. #hashtag (that’s an example)

A Twitter Chat allows you to observe discussion around a topic.
You can also engage with others in the discussion.
Another approach is to “click favorite” or “click ReTweet” on the things you like.

4) A Public Discussion 

Don’t ever forget that Twitter Chats are not private discussions.

If you can’t take the heat, you may want to stay out of the proverbial kitchen.

5) An Excellent Platform Building Tool 

Twitter Chats allow you to interact with professionals around the world (Michael Hyatt writes much more about Platform building in his book “Platform“)

They also allow you to connect with experts. Some examples are Authors, Professors, Business Leaders, Stay-At-Home Moms ( #SAHM ) and more.

If you don’t connect with these people, that’s fine. But what opportunities might you be missing?

Take a look at one of these Twitter Chats: #LeadWithGiants | #BeIntentional | #SermonPrep

How else would you describe a Twitter Chat? What else would you say about it?

Leave your comment below.