Twitter chats are the ultimate source for finding peers, professionals, and industry leaders in your field. Once I started becoming very active on Twitter, I discovered them and I was quickly blown away with the quality of content and contacts I was stumbling upon while using this tool.
If Twitter is about connections, then tweet chats are the conferences. Every time I participate in a twitter chat I meet new people, and I always end up learning something new. If you are new to twitter chats or Twitter, here are some quick pointers on making tweet chats work for you.
What it is: A Twitter tweet chat is a pre-arranged chat that happens on Twitter through the use of tweets (Twitter updates). A tweet chat always has a predefined hashtag (#) to link all of the related tweets together in a virtual conversation. Twitter chats usually include a predetermined agenda moderated by a leader or speaker.
How to use it: When I want to participate in or even just follow a Twitter chat I use TweetChat.com. Here, the chat updates in real-time at the speed you choose. This allows you to see a constant flow of new tweets without having to keep refreshing the page or leaving the website. To discover new Twitter chats, I used What the Hashtag?!, the self-proclaimed “user-editable encyclopedia for hashtags found on Twitter.” On What The Hashtag?! you can also can find the chat’s top contributors, chat history, stats, and an RSS feed to follow the chat.
#Internchat: The ultimate Twitter chat for students and interns has to be #InternChat, which is hosted by Lauren Berger, @InternQueen, and Heather Huhman, @HeatherHuhman. Lauren Berger is the CEO of Intern Queen Inc., an online internship destination that helps students find and apply for internships while also educating them on how to make the most of their experiences. Heather R. Huhman is the founder and president of Come Recommended, an online community about helping students and recent college graduates pursue their dream careers.
#InternChat is a platform for internship-seeking students and intern-seeking employers to directly connect. The purpose of #InternChat is to ask and answer any questions about internships. Topics on #InternChat can include anything internship-related, from acing the application process to creating a standout resume to what to wear in an internship. #InternChat is every other Tuesday at 7PM EST/4PM PST. Get involved with #InternChat on Twitter by hashtagging everything internship-related with #InternChat.
