I’m continuously receiving press releases and invites to participate in Twitter Parties! I thought it would be a wonderful idea to begin listing them here, so my visitors (that’s you) have the opportunity to join in the fun and perhaps even win some terrific prizes at the events! As the parties become available and I’m made aware of the dates, I’ll give you the updated details!
What is a Twitter Party?
Put in layman’s terms, a Twitter Party is simply a quick and exciting virtual social gathering, utilizing the Twitter platform. Typically held later in the day, the parties last approximately 1 hour and in most cases have an expert panelist as well as party host to help keep the topic relevant. The fun online Twitter get-together is an excellent way for people to connect, learn, share, and discuss a subject matter of choice. More often than not, there’s generally some kind of prizes to be given away.
How To Participate
The very first step to joining a Twitter Party is making certain you’re already a Twitter member! In the event you don’t have a free account you’ll want to head over to Twitter.com and follow the easy sign-up instructions. Decide on a Twitter handle (name to represent you) and register. The entire process from beginning to end won’t take more than a minute or two.
Next make sure you are following all the moderators and expert guests hosting the party. The invitation will contain the hosts Twitter IDs ( such as @ahappyhippymom) information along with the specified hashtag (#) for the party, date and time. Without the special #word, you won’t be noticed by the other party guests and not considered part of the conversation, so it is vital your tweet contains the hashtag each time you send an update during the party. Your messages are limited just to 140 characters. It’s better to keep your messages brief and to the point! Anything over the 140 characters results in an error and you’ll have to shorten your tweet before it can be sent.
I’m gonna warn you, there’s normally hundreds of virtual guests attending the party and the chat is like rapid fire. Visualize a room full of moms flapping their jaws all at once and you’re attempting to keep up with what’s going on! I suggest you use a “Twitter Aggregator” program, such as Tweet Grid, Tweet Deck, or Tweet Chat. The program automatically adds the hashtag for you and compiles all the tweets from the moderators, expert panelists, and party guests. It tends to make following and joining the conversation incredibly easier. Nevertheless, you are able to attend the party by means of Twitter alone by following the hosts and searching for the hashtag, but you’ll need to keep refreshing the page to follow along with all the tweets and it may become extremely mind-numbing. Personally, I like using Tweet Grid, which is the one Mom Central tends to recommend as well in their invitations.
Clothing is Optional!
The key point to remember is have some fun! The parties can be a fantastic way for you to gain some followers and increase your social media reach! Oh know what’s even better? You can wear your jammies to the party if you wish! You don’t even need to brush your hair! In fact, clothing is downright optional, because nobody can see you! Happy Tweeting!
