Last week, Mack Collier (@MackCollier) asked a simple question on Twitter. But because he tagged it – using what is called a “hash tag”, a simple question was transformed into a conversation lasting over a couple of hours. Along the way, people joined the conversation from all over the world. The question that spawned this discussion was simple:
Hash tags are a great way to initiate and follow conversations in Twitter. They allow easy searching on a particular topic, and they also indicate to other participants that a conversation is underway. Often hash tags are used for conference proceedings or TV shows – and of course, anyone can use them.
After the success of last week’s blogchat, Mack has decided to be a little more coordinated. He will be kicking off another round of blogchat today – Sunday at 8pm CST in the US and Midday in Sydney, Australia. However, the idea is to extend the conversation around the globe and across timezones – with folks from Australia joining from 2pm Sydney time and then Stefano Maggi (@stefanomaggi) and more folks from Europe stepping in two hours later.
How to #BlogChat Effectively
- Try to follow people who are contributing to the conversation
- Make sure to tag your tweets with the hash tag (#blogchat)
- Use a tool such as TweetDeck to search the Twitter conversations for the #blogchat tag
- If you don’t have TweetDeck, check search.twitter.com for the #blogchat topic
Hope to see you there!
I hope you do this again. I should have paid closer attention tonight as I would love to ask some questions of other bloggers, but I have to call it a day for now. Hope I can jump in next time as it’s a great, great idea!
That is a very valid question. I reckon it has to do with the personal touch.
People would rather respond to a person driven by the desire to connect than with a person driven by the compulsion to connect. Some companies manage admirably though.- Edward J
Just a tip for people who notice they lose a few followers when participating in a chat – a lot of tweeps are still unaware of the fabulousness of the filter. Tweeting how to filter the noise is a nice courtesy before you join the chat.
Gavin will the chat be summarised anywhere? And could you please confirm days – is it Monday for AU to match up with Sunday US?
Thanks! 🙂
Looks like it will be a regular thing. Each Sunday evening (US) and Monday afternoon (Aus). The more the merrier!
I am going to attempt a summary. I expect that Mack will as well.
I can confirm BlogChat is Sunday in the US and Monday in Australia. Hope to see you joining the chat!