Blogger chats are something I used to find incredibly daunting and difficult to get involved with. I don’t use Twitter as regularly as I use some of my other social networks, so part of getting into my first chat involved me trying out a number of different ways to try and keep up with what was going on – and ultimately failing. However, I’ve been a part of a few chats recently so I thought I’d share my views on how to get involved with blogger chats for people who are a bit unsure of how to get started.
What do I need to take part?
The only thing you’re gonna need is a Twitter account. I created a specific Twitter account for my blog (lzythoughts) but you don’t need one for yours.
How do Blogger Chats work?
The basic format for a chat is one host asking around five questions using a particular hashtag (#bdib, #crazybloggers, #lbloggers etc.), and then everyone else can search the hashtag and either answer the questions or just interact with other bloggers who have decided to participate. It really is that simple!
How do I keep up?
The simple answer is that you don’t. I used to get so overwhelmed by Twitter chats as some of the more popular ones have so many people taking part that it’s impossible to keep up with everything that’s being said. In larger chats I tend to stick to interacting with people and trying to have conversations rather than trying to read every single tweet everyone’s written. The point is, you don’t have to keep up with everything. If you’re interacting with people, then you aren’t missing out so you don’t need to worry! I like using Tweetdeck as you can see multiple ‘feeds’ at once, so you can view the hashtag and your notifications side by side.
What if nobody talks to me?
They will. Everyone in the blogging community is so friendly, especially in chats, and even if somebody does ignore you it’s probably not intentional! Just remember if people have shown up to a chat they’re there for the exact same reason as you, so there’s no need to be shy about approaching people, even if they have more followers than you.
What’s the point?
I know before I started participating in chats, I was under the impression that they weren’t that important, but they are so useful when it comes to growing your blog and getting yourself out there! Usually people swap links at the end so you can check out each other’s blogs but there are so many other advantages too. You’ll no doubt gain Twitter followers (which are just as valuable as blog followers if you ever plug your content on Twitter) and you’ve also got the opportunity to make friends. It’s cliché, but you’ll start recognising usernames after a few weeks and you will no doubt find some likeminded people you want to talk to!
I hope this serves as a useful beginners guide to Blogger chats, let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll try my best to answer them!
