Twitter parties are all about the #hashtag. If you’re new to Twitter and not familiar with the term, you soon will be. It’s a vital component of the social networking site.

A hashtag is a keyword with the pound (“#”) sign in front of it. In a tweet you might see something like this: Party Tonight! Check it out at TweeParties.com! #tweeparties Notice the bold portion: #tweeparties. This is a hashtag in action. In Twitter, if you see a hashtag and click on it, you’ll see a list of all tweets recently posted using that hashtag. It makes searching for specific topics easier by uniting similar tweets with a specific keyword. Without hashtags—one specific keyword picked out just of the party and used by all attendees’ tweet—we wouldn’t have Twitter parties.

You can follow a party in Twitter alone. Just search the right sidebar for the hashtag. However, in order to view the most recent posts, you would have to keep hitting your “refresh” button. So rather than tiring out your mouse, try a Twitter aggregator program. An aggregator program is free software, either available through your web browser or for download. Programs such as Tweet Chat, Tweet Grid, Tweet Deck and Hootsuite make it easier to keep up with a party by automatically refreshing your timeline. First off, to do any of this, you’ll need a free Twitter account. Pick a user name that sums you up and get tweeting!

The first party I ever attended, I attended on Twitter, so don’t feel badly if you give it a go that way! Depending on the maneuverability of your fingers, you might do just fine. Or the “refreshing” might drive you a little crazy (as it did me).

The next time, I tried Tweet Chat. This is a great one for beginners attending their first party. Visit Tweet Chat’s homepage and you’ll get a quick 3-Step guide to using the program. It’s free and all you need is a web browser to use it. You’ll sign in using your Twitter account. Then, enter the party’s unique hashtag in the box at the top (following the “#” sign) and hit “Go!” A one-column list will appear showing all of the tweets using that hashtag in reverse-chronological order (most recent first). Two benefits: 1) the timeline will automatically refresh itself (no manual refreshing!); 2) Each time you tweet, the hashtag will be added to your tweets for you (you don’t have to type the tweet each time! So you don’t have to worry about making a typo and having a tweet miss being seen during the party! The single-column format provides less confusion to a party newbie. But watchout! When that list refreshes, it might list a ton of tweets at once. If you want to make sure you don’t miss one sent specifically to you, have two windows open: one for Tweet Chat and the other for your Twitter account. Then occasionally refresh your “@” button to see if anyone has responded to one of your tweets.

You could also use Tweet Deck or Hootsuite. Both of these are different from Tweet Chat in that you can have more than one column. So you can set up one column to follow the hashtag, another to follow the party host, and another to follow your own account (which helps to see when people are replying to your tweets). Both are free. The only difference is that Tweet Deck is a program you download and install on your computer and Hootsuite is something you can use via your browser alone. I’ve tried both. Both have real benefits in day-to-day tweeting. However, when I’ve used them during parties, I felt they didn’t automatically refresh often enough.

What seems to be the most popular party aggregator is Tweet Grid. It is not without occasional problems, but in contacting the programmer, the problems lie with Twitter, and hopefully someday will be resolved. Tweet Grid makes it easy to follow parties (in fact, many party hosts create custom links to the grid—all you need to do is click on the link, enter your Twitter ID, and bingo! You’re in). On the welcome screen, just enter the hashtag, the Twitter ID’s of the party hosts, and your ID. A new screen will open up revealing the three columns, and you’re in! When you tweet, you don’t need to include the hashtag—it will include it for you. Also, you can upload photos via Tweet Grid and send DM’s much like being in your own Twitter account. You also could create more columns to follow another hashtag, if needed.

Sometimes when using Tweet Grid the center column freezes up—the party host column. One way to get the column moving again is to try removing the “from:” that’s before the Twitter ID in that column. You will now see all tweets mentioning that ID, including those from other users, but at least you won’t miss anything from that ID and the column will start refreshing again.

The bottom line: use whatever method is most comfortable for you. And have patience. New technology doesn’t always work brilliantly 100% of the time (insert a Twitter ‘fail whale’ here!) But with a little know-how and some practice, you’ll be able to find your own path to Twitter party enjoyment! (Any questions/comments, please leave them here!) Happy Tweeting!

Tags: hootsuite, social media marketing, tweet chat, tweet deck, tweet grid, twitter aggregators, twitter party tips

I love Twitter parties. I guess there would be no point in starting a company specializing in planning them if I didn’t. However, if you rewind to the first one that I ever attended, my launch onto the Twitter social scene was far from favorable.

My first party reminded me of my eighth grade graduation dance. Back then, after I had put on my lacey peach dress, sprayed my 80′s bangs, and applied my pink eyeshadow, I proceeded to be held up by a wall for two hours while I observed a herd of awkward preteens attempt to break dance. I was a wallflower back then, and years later, to my surprise, I was a wallflower at a Twitter party. It doesn’t get much geekier than that, now does it?

If a transcript were available, it would probably look something like this:

@erin Hi, I’m Erin! Happy to be here!

Refresh screen. No replies.

There must be something wrong with my browser. Or Twitter. Or my ISP.

Refresh again. Still no replies.

@erin Um okay, I guess I arrived fashionably late to this Twitter party. And I wouldn’t call reindeer pajama pants fashionable. LOL!

Crickets.

All right, so there weren’t crickets, because as we all know, Twitter doesn’t yet have sound, but it felt like they were there, chirping while I tweeted. In reality, everyone was chattering with everyone else—at what seemed like a very rapid pace, I might add—and having a great time. And I was, well—watching my tweets languish, unread, unnoticed, unloved—while the rest of the party rocked on like a finger-flying guitar solo.

But the topic that night interested me: wine. I learned a few things about different favorites among users. Despite not partaking in a two-way conversation and instead watching other people’s tweets fly across my monitor like 90 mph fastballs, found it interesting enough to attend another one. And fortunately, after reading some tips online about how to improve my experience, I did.

Because at the next party, I had responses from those who had most likely seen my tweets during the first event, but didn’t get the chance to reply. Now they recognized my ID and avatar, and replied to me. Through the use of a new Twitter aggregator program (I now used Tweet Grid or Tweet Deck) I could better see tweets from the party hosts and follow along better. It took another party to really get the hang of it, but once I did, I found them to be a fun and rewarding experience (literally, when I snagged a prize!). For me, Twitter parties weren’t love at first site (er, I mean sight), but with a little experience and advice, I was on my way to the dance floor!

To recap, some advice for Twitter party newbies:

• Give it more than one chance. If at first your tweets don’t succeed, try, try again. Don’t let lack of replies on your first party to discourage you. Keep going, and chances are you’ll make some very good like-minded friends.
• Just relax. Twitter parties can be fast-paced. Select a tweet you find of interest to reply to and start a conversation with just one or two other users. Just like any real party you attend, you can’t be part of every conversation in every corner of the room all at once.
• Be yourself. Don’t feel you have to try to entertain people, crack jokes, be witty, or ask phenomenal questions to stand out. Just be who you are naturally. Like they say, “If you tweet it, the replies will come.” Give it time and have fun!
• Get educated. Visit our “Etiquette and Tips” page on TweeParties. There we have other helpful hints, including recommended software to help make following parties easier. We will continue to update our Tips page, as well as this blog, to give you more information and pointers, as well as software updates to make your party experience even better!

If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment here or contact us at [email protected]. We’re here to help! That’s the thing about the Twitter community: for the most part we’re a caring, helpful bunch. And at TweeParties, that spirit of community carries over to our services. Just don’t ask us how to moonwalk.

Tags: aggregators, tips, TweeParties services, tweets, Twitter parties