How to Attend a Twitter Party
September 23, 2009 by Amber Passey
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A while back Twitter parties hit their peak of popularity and then were criticized by severely for a variety of reasons. Namely that Twitter parties increase the number of conversations during a set time thus “polluting” the Twitter stream with irrelevant content. Another gripe is that Twitter parties promote brands in an ineffective way and just bug the people not interested in participating. One final complaint I saw a lot was that people participating in Twitter parties were often rude or aloof to questions about the Twitter party.
I explain all this so you understand the reputation these parties have developed for themselves in order that you can make an informed choice about attending or not attending a Twitter party. While I understand to some extent the complaints I’ve mentioned regarding Twitter parties, I believe there is merit to them, especially for Twitter users trying to find people to have conversations with.
How to Attend a Twitter Party
Refreshing your home page at Twitter.com is not going to cut it given the speed at which Twitter parties travel through the Twitter stream. My favorite way to attend a Twitter party is with TweetGrid.com. Choose a 1×3 grid to help you follow the conversation better. In the first column enter the hashtag of the party (e.g., #gno). In the second column enter From:”TwitterID” of the host and panel members of the party. In the third column enter @”yourTwitterID” to see when people talk to you.
How to Participate in a Twitter Party
To follow the main conversation, refer to your middle column where you’ll see what the panel members and host are saying. You can respond to the questions posed there or make comments on the answers the panel give. to respond, hover your cursor over the tweet in the box. Blue arrows will appear in the bottom along with some other symbols. Click on the left-pointing arrow and it will put the @”username” in the Tweet box for you. If you click the right-pointing arrow, it will retweet the message by putting the message in the Tweet box for you then you just Tweet!
Use the left column to see what other attendees are saying. Find comments that you have soemthing to add to, even if it’s just “Me, too!” and reply to them. this helps get you into a conversation. It’s not necessary to talk to everyone at the party. Look for tweets that seem to match your personality and reply to those people. Just like social networking in real life, you need to be interesting and add to the conversation. This will encourage people to respond to you and engage in conversation with you.
Look for people talking to you in the third column. Here you’ll see people talking to you or responding to your tweets to them. The benefit of a Twitter party is to find new people to engage in conversation with on Twitter. Try to keep the conversation going.
What to Do After the Party
Go back through your tweets and follow the people you sent @replies to. Then, and most importantly, go through your @replies and follow all the people who talked to you. This is how you acknowledge your conversation with them and say, “Hey, I thought you were interesting. I’m going to remember who you are so we can chat in the future.” Then, be sure to read their tweets from time to time and respond to them. Also, feel free to initiate conversations with your new acquaintances so they can become friends and allies in your online world.
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