So, since most of my readers find their way here from Twitter, you probably know that I’m someone who loves a good Twitter chat.  I’ve been really engaged in chatting with teachers and other educators on Twitter for close to two years, and it’s become something between a habit and an addiction.  I’ve learned so much, and I continue to learn so much, that I can’t really let go.  In fact, I’m helping to start a chat in a few weeks . . . but more about that later.

I’ve already (and recently) made the case that teachers should be connected.  I’m not going to re-hash that argument here.  Suffice it to say that I’ve learned a ton as a result of my connections, and I know that I’m a much better teacher as a result.  What I would like to do here is talk about how to participate in a chat on Twitter.  I think there are a bunch of guides out there, but I’m not sure that they’re readable or user-friendly.  So I thought I would try.

First of all, if you’re new to Twitter, make sure that you have some kind of profile picture.   It doesn’t have to be your face, but I think at some point people are going to be more comfortable with you if you have a real face, and not just a silly picture of your dog or something.

Second, remember that the purpose of Twitter isn’t just to throw your words down a hole, it’s to connect with people and learn something.  Share and share alike, etc.  Let’s think about what that means. . . Think about your classroom.  If you only ever talk to be heard, not to engage or ask questions or anything else that requires reaction, isn’t there a good chance that people will just ignore you and wait for you to stop?  It’s like that on Twitter.  You can wait for people to notice your comments, which they might or might not, or you can . . . notice theirs.  It’s a weird fact – but one that I’m sure you know, if you’re a teacher – that your audience will often listen better when they think that you’re a good listener and that you care what they think, too.

So how do you show people that you’re a good listener on Twitter?  Follow them, first.  (Remember that you can only follow 2000 people before Twitter stops you from following any more.)  I don’t recommend direct messages (or DM’s) with anyone you don’t know very well – that makes you look like a spammer – but I think it’s a good idea to respond to a tweet or two from a person that you think would be good to talk to.  Of course, I don’t think you should follow Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga and tweet them and expect a response.  However, if you look at the suggestions for someone with a few hundred followers, and they are also following a few hundred people, that’s a good bet.  A person who has 10,000 followers and only follows 10 people is not a good bet.  I think the purpose of Twitter is INTERACTIONS – getting people to respond to you in some way – so you need to find the interactive people.  And what you really want are the people who want to interact with you about your chosen topic.

Back to the chats, because that’s where the bulk of my interacting occurs.  Sure, I respond to tweets, and I get responses to other tweets that occur at random times.  But the majority of my tweets – interactions and otherwise – occur during chats.  And I chat a lot – maybe four or five chats a week, sometimes more.  I think I’ve done more than ten in a week.  I’m not setting any records, I know, but that’s a good amount for any full-time teacher to be on Twitter.  (Of course, I miss things when life/career intervenes, but so does everybody.)

Check out the “official” Educational Twitter Chat schedule.  There’s a ton.

I started (somewhat foolishly) with #EdChat.  It’s on Tuesdays, twice, at noon (I think) and 7pm ET/6pm CT.  It’s a big – sometimes huge – chat with teachers and all kinds of other people concerned with education.  The topic varies widely, and there’s often no clear direction or thread to the conversation when it gets going.  The moderators (@cybraryman and others) set a topic, and then people start throwing out comments.  It gets chaotic sometimes.  I tried to keep up with every tweet in the beginning.  That’s pretty much impossible.  You’re going to have to let some things go.  Often, you’ll start to notice certain people saying things that interest you, or providing resources that you can use.  That’s when it gets exciting.  Those are the people that you should follow.  If you dive in and make a comment – as I did – and people respond, you should also follow those people.  They are the people who respond to you, and since that’s the point, you need to make sure that you try to build that relationship.  (The timing of the follow matters, too.  Sooner is better than later.  They might forget who you are and not follow back.)

I don’t recommend #EdChat if you’re just starting.  I show up for that chat every so often these days, when the topic is cool or when I have some time and Twitter is calling.  I think it’s better to start with a smaller, more organized chat.  There are a bunch of chats like this – most, in fact – but I think a weekly chat is a good way to get in the habit.  (If it happens every Monday, for example, it’s easier to remember.)  I think that good chats to start with are #SATCHATWC, the West Coast Saturday-morning chat; #TLAP, the Monday-night chat about the book Teach Like a Pirate; #21stEdChat, the Sunday night chat about 21st-century learning; or a state chat like #TXEduChat or #IlEdChat.  In my experience, these tend to be more manageable.  All of them can still draw hundreds of teachers and produce thousands of tweets (I think – I’ve never actually counted).  And all of them can be helpful.

How does it work?  Twitter lets you sort through all of the “tweets” (or microblog posts limited to 140 characters through their service) based on a few different things.  If someone adds a hashtag (#) symbol to a word, it becomes an easily-identifiable and clickable search term.  It’s a way to connect tweets – and see lots of tweets about the same thing.  If everyone who is talking about Justin Bieber tweets about him using #Bieber, then people can follow the conversation by clicking on the hashtag.  The chats are organized around a common hashtag.  There’s usually a moderator or organizer who tweets out the questions – usually numbered.  And then people tweet their answers, also numbered.  Then people start to re-tweet (re-post or re-broadcast) what others have said, and respond, and the conversation ensues.  A good chat feels like a really productive sharing session with lots of great people sharing.  And it feels like no one is talking over anyone else, even though we’re all talking at once.

A good chat often seems to move very fast, with lots of tweets from lots of people flowing past in your Twitter stream faster than you can pay attention.  That’s fine – again, remember that no one can read and respond to every tweet.  You don’t have to.  It’s good to try to keep up with the questions and respond when you can, and maybe respond to someone else’s answer, but that’s enough to still learn a bunch.  With practice, you’ll find that your responses come faster and easier, and that you are better able to cope with the flurry of information flying past you.  There’s usually some kind of archive if you want to comb through the responses for good resources.  I’ve done that many times.

I should also say that most people who participate in a chat use some kind of tool besides just the twitter.com page.  There are other sites like tweetchat.com (what I usually prefer to use), or twubs, or hootsuite, that will help you focus on a single twitter stream.  There are lots of good reviews of these sites out there.  I recommend that you keep trying these until you find one that you’re comfortable with.  I like tweetdeck (when it’s working – it was going through some bugs at the end of last year) because it adds the hashtag for you, and I have some control over how fast the tweets are scrolling.  I sometimes feel like I can’t catch up on Tweetdeck, though you can follow multiple streams more easily.  (I use Tweetdeck to surf multiple hashtags at once – it’s a great way to focus on different things.)  When I’m using tweetchat, I also have another tab open on my browser to the interactions page on twitter.com.  That way, I know when someone responds.  That’s the point, right?

I hope this helps.  I’ll try to say more about this later.