A Twitter chat is an organized discussion on Twitter around a particular topic or hashtag. Participants respond to questions and each other's comments in an asynchronous manner. To participate, one should navigate to the chat handle at the designated time and follow the discussion tags, responding to questions and other participants' responses by clicking the comment bubble and including the discussion hashtag in one's reply. Chats are broken into multiple questions released at intervals over an hour to guide the conversation.

1. A Guide to Twitter Chats
Megan Gerber, MD, MPH
Twitter @meggerber

2. What is a Twitter Chat?
• A series of comments or responses to a Tweet or thread organized
under a “@” i.e. @primarycarechat
• Every chat uses a standard “#” i.e. #primarycarechat and sometimes
adds additional ”#” to follow the topic, i.e. #pcptime
• Most 1 hour chats are broken into 4 questions that are released at
intervals. People respond in an asynchronous matter and some
participate after the fact.
• Don’t worry about time or speed to goal is to connect, learn and
enjoy.

3. How do I participate?
• At the designated start time navigate to the chat ”@nameofchat.”
• Typically the host will ask for intros
• To introduce yourself, click on the
comment bubble at the bottom of the
Tweet

5. Chat Responses
• Always include the chat ”#” that is how comments are joined into the
chat thread, it’s also how everyone follows the chat.
• To respond I click on the comment “bubble” above & my response
will automatically go to @primarycarechat I would then add “my
name is… and my favorite acronym is ’AMA’ #primarycarechat …”

6. Typically there
is a “please
introduce
yourself tweet”
then comes Q1
Answer Q1 with
your “A1” by clicking
the bubble

7. Answering Questions
• Always number your response – most chats will suggest you answer
“Q1” with “A1” (not terrible if you forget)!

8. You can see answers to that question listed as
replies below the original Q1 Tweet….

9. Follow the chat using the # and latest tab
Enter the #
for the
chat in the
search box
& click
“latest” –
it will
default to
“top” but
latest will
help you
follow the
chat.

10. Responding to Others’ Comments
• Here I can respond by clicking the comment bubble, as long as I add
the # my comment will be added to the chat thread:

11. Summary
• Twitter Chats are great opportunities to collaborate and network
• They are aggregated threads of comments (tweets)
• Follow the “#”
• It’s hard to keep up but using the hashtag allows you to follow and
add to the chat even when it’s over.