Last Sunday, I hosted my first ever Twitter chat. It was a really good experience and one I would do again. There were some fun moments and some moments where I was thinking no one is going to talk to me! This post will go through my experience and some pointers to keep in mind when thinking of hosting one.
How did I go about hosting a chat
I am signed up to Pick A Blogger's free subscription service and saw on their Twitter an advert advertising people for their chat. I went onto the page and emailed a topic (Past, Present and Future of blogging, if you wanted to know) and four questions I wanted to ask. This was back in July, I got an email confirming the date a day later. The week before I got an DM from them checking I was ok to do the chat and if I had any questions. I asked when do I need to start advertising heavily about it and they said from now. Pick a blogger tweeted me out on their chat Twitter page a few times on the week of the chat.
What is the chat like?
When I first started I was really nervous, I sent out a tweet that morning saying I was doing the chat and then sent a tweet out an hour before reminding people and asking if they were having a good Sunday which I got some interaction with. I sent another tweet which was with five minutes to go and then bang on five I just started the chat.
At first I wasn't getting any responses and I was so nervous. But Pick a Blogger tweeted out my chat and after about five minutes in I was getting interaction. I was making a conscious effort to favorite and comment on every comment I was receiving. At one point my phone was going crazy with over fifty notifications! As I had four questions I made it so one question was asked every fifteen minutes which worked well as it kept the conversation flowing. I wrapped it up at the end by asking people to share their links. Pick a Blogger kindly thanked me for taking part and asked me to host one again in the future.
The chat was what I thought it would be, to be honest, I hoped more people would take part but I was grateful for those that did take part. At the end of the day they are giving up their hour for you!
Would you do it again?
Yes I would, I want to try another one though to get different experiences.
Tips:
Don't feel disheartened if there are not many people responding, sometimes it takes a while for the conversation to warm up.
Obvious, but make sure you are in a place with a good internet connection.
I would use a laptop or computer to chat, I found it easy to keep on track looking at everything on a big screen than a tiny phone and it wouldn't use as much battery up.
Have you hosted a Twitter chat? What are your thoughts?
If you like this you may like: #TwitterHour List
0 comments:
Post a Comment