Twitter parties are fast-paced conversations between many (sometimes hundreds) of people at once. They are often informative and usually a ton of fun!
Before the Party:
-Sign up for a Twitter account, if you haven't done so.
-Get the party details: date/time (pay attn. to time zone!), do you need to RSVP anywhere?
-Get online early if you want to catch the beginning. There's a little set-up work beforehand.
-You may want to close anything that slows down your computer (things that auto-refresh: Facebook, Gmail, etc), as a big Twitter Party can crash your browser.
It can be frustrating to participate in a party using regular Twitter.com, TweetDeck or Hootsuite. Fortunately, there are sites that offer convenient features, such as automatically adding the party's #hashtag to each tweet. Tweetgrid and Tweetchat are two good ones.-Sign in to your preferred hangout room. (Tweetchat, Tweetgrid, etc...)
-Search for the party's hashtag. (Ex. #blogchat)
-Tweak Tweetchat or Tweetgrid for maximum efficiency.*
-Tweet a "hello" to the group. Introduce yourself or your blog, if appropriate.
-Do finger stretches!
*Tweetchat Tips:
-Feature people whose tweets you don't want to miss, such as the party's hosts.
-Block persons whose tweets are distracting or off topic.
-Toggle font shrinks or enlarges the font size. I shrink to view the maximum amount of tweets on my screen.
-Refresh Speed controls the rate at which the stream refreshes. To be as close to real time as possible, I usually set it to the minimum.
-Pause will give you a minute to catch up if you need to.
-Share a link will tell your followers how to join the party, too. For the sake of your followers, be careful not to overuse this option.
During the Party:
-Ask questions
-Answer questions
-Network and Socialize
-If a party is going by quickly, I like to lean back and scan the page for good information, rather than read verbatim.
-I star useful tweets for later, rather than trying to take notes.
After the Party:
-Follow people after the party using a tool like Blastfollow.
-If you miss a party or can't keep up, ask the host for a link to the transcript.
Need to start at the beginning?
Do you have any useful tips for participating in a Twitter Party?
{Photo credit: respres}
