You should start networking. Before my manager offered that advice, my networking endeavors were non-existent both inside and outside my current employment. I set up a twitter account. Sent out a #myfirsttweet message, and then promptly forgot about it. At work I sat at my desk, talked with the co-workers who sat directly next to me, and didn't even bother to introduce myself to anyone.
Since then, I'm happy to report, my networking endeavors have sky rocketed. I actually introduced myself to someone from a different department last week! And I've recently delved into the intimidating world of social media in an effort to get my name and face in front of the 62% of the American population who went online use social media networks via Twitter.
I started my Twitter exploration slow with these basic steps:
- Sharing my own articles
- Fangirling about other peoples articles
- Asking questions and sharing my thoughts on career success.
The results? Professionals in the field began to follow and engage with me. Why does that matter? Every follower is one person who will see your tweets. And all it takes is one retweet, reply, or favorite to connect you with all of their Twitter followers. Enthused by my slow transformation into a social media influencer, I decided to super-charge my networking endeavors by participating in a Twitter chat.
What Are #TwitterChats?
Twitter Chats also known as Twitter Parties are forums for individuals to have real-time intellectual discussions on a pre-determined topic. A particular chat can be located by searching for the pre-arranged hashtag (#culturechat) when the chat is scheduled.
Why Participate in Chats?
Twitter chats offer many advantages. On an intellectual level chats are an opportunity to discover new strategies and ideas that could lead to personal or professional improvement. On a networking level, chats are a means to facilitate conversations with individuals who share similar passions, experiences, professions, or goals.
Twitter chats ensure that your tweets will be seen. While hashtags can increase how many people will see your messages, the popularity of those tweets is often tied to how many followers you have personally. For however long the chat lasts, usually anywhere from half an hour to an hour, you have at least ten to fifty individuals who will see every word you type. I've never had as many responses, retweets, or favorites as I did when I participated in two Twitter chats.
Locating Chats
Before you can tap into the power of the Twitter Party, you must first locate the right one. You can do that in a few ways:
- Search the hashtag #twitterchat in the search bar of Twitter.
- Check out a twitter chat directory to find chats that you might be interested in.
- Search for a list of twitter chats based on your desired niche in a search engine.
Don't just locate a chat. Locate the right chat. Before carving out a piece of your calendar for the event, double check that the topic is either one you want to learn about or one you can speak intelligently on. If you don't know anything about the topic, spend some time beforehand doing some research to prepare yourself for the event.
How to Engage
The difficulty level of twitter chat is determined by the level of experience with Twitter. Twitter veterans should have a relatively easy time learning how to participate. For twitter novices and experienced twitter veterans who want to jump directly into networking, I've provided a quick walkthrough.
Get there ahead of time. Twitter parties are lax. There is no mandatory attendance time, so you could choose to show up twenty minutes in. If it's your first chat or you don't know who will be presenting the questions, I would show up before the chat commences.
The Question. The host or a guest attendee will present the pre-arranged questions. The questions are typically formatted the following way: Q[#]: [Thought Provoking Question] [#chat hashtag].
I would recommend that you open the Twitter page of the individual who asks the questions because some chats are so active it can be hard to miss the question.
Answer the question. Answer the question by clicking respond to question or by composing a new tweet. Answers are typically formatted: A[# of the question the tweet answers]: [I'm answering the question here] [#chat hashtag]. Make sure that you include the chats hashtag or your answer will not be seen by the chat's participants.
Respond to answers. Don't just answer questions. Engage in a conversation by adding your expertise to an answer given by other participants in the chat. This will increase the chance that they will follow you, respond to you, or favorite one of your tweets.
Twitter is only a small portion of successful networking campaign, but it can be a crucial one. Every twitter chat that you attend is the seed for a potentially lucrative professional relationship that can extend outside of the social media sphere. How can you not use such a valuable tool?