TwitterChats or TweetChats have become very popular in the last few years. If you are not familiar with them, they are a way to have a conversation with a disparate group of people all around a common topic. Somebody “leads” the chat by having a list of questions at the ready that they push out about every 10 mins or so. Anybody in the world is welcome to join and contribute. In practice, this is only the people that are aware of the chat and are passionate enough to get involved. The topic, whatever it is, centers around a common hashtag. That is how you are able to track what people are talking about; even if you don’t follow each other on Twitter. For example, if you wanted to chat about cute puppies, you hashtag would be #CutePuppies. Now, tweetchats are fun and nerdy, and with just the standard Twitter client, a little annoying. That is why I am such a big fan of the website Tweet Chat. TweetChat lets you easily keep track of the conversation hashtag all on one site. No need to filter through your own Twitter feed to easily chat. It has some super helpful features too:
- Auto shortens URL for you if you share them
- Has a buffer feature where Tweets come in a batch of five to make it easier to read
- Automatically ads the hashtag for you. Love that one!
- Let’s you highlight, or even block, participants.
Simple Uses?
- Have a chat with a group of educators who care about a similar topic. Example, #ReadingLiteracy, or #Robotics.
- Have your students enjoy a chat with another group of students somewhere else on a similar topic #sharks
Do I Plan To Use It?
I just did again today.
Commitment And Learning Curve
Low. Wow, this is easy to use. Takes about 5 mins to figure out. Longer though if you are new to the idea of Twitter or Tweetchats
Best For
ES/MS/HS
Cost
Free! Can’t find a way to pay for it. There might be one somewhere, but not easy to locate. That is ok with me.
Website
TweetChat.com
