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Eileen Brown
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Twitter hashtag #chats: Valuable or just noise?

By | September 14, 2009, 1:11pm PDT

Summary: You’ve seen them: #journchat, #editorchat, #PR20chat, #blogchat — the list is pretty long. The question is, do they do any more than create noise?

There are a ton of “hash tag” chats on Twitter. You’ve seen them: #journchat, #editorchat, #PR20chat, #blogchat — the list is pretty long. The question is, do they do any more than create noise?

In theory, the chats are great for inspiring community and conversation around a topic. But how much value do the attendees really get out of a crowd of tweets and hashtags? And what does your network do if they don’t want to overhear it anymore?

On the Sept. 24 Oct. 8 edition of the Quick’n'Dirty Podcast, I, along with co-host Aaron Strout and special guest Deb Robison, will discuss these chats. We’ll combine unofficial survey data (with your help!) and our own experiments and trials that we’ll conduct over the next week or so. The results will also be published on this blog.

Interested in particpating? Take the poll here.

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Topics

Twitter Inc., Survey, Chat, Marketing Research, Marketing, Jennifer Leggio

Jennifer Leggio, aka "Mediaphyter," writes about the "social business" side of social media - including enterprise, security and reputation issues.

Disclosure

Jennifer Leggio

Jennifer is employed full-time with Fortinet, a leading network security appliance vendor. She is also actively involved in the network security community and works with the Security Bloggers Network. She co-manages the annual Security Bloggers Meet-UP at RSA Conference.

Jennifer is also involved with Silicon Valley Tweet-Up, a philanthropic networking event that brings people together to raise money for local family-oriented charities.

The blog posts here are solely her opinion and do not represent her employer or any other organization with which she may be affiliated.

Biography

Jennifer Leggio

Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter) has been a communications professional for more than 15 years, focusing primarily on enterprise technology and security. She is currently the director of strategic communications for a leading network security vendor. Jennifer is also passionate about all things social media, especially enterprise, security, privacy and reputation issues, which is why she writes about these things for ZDNet.

A well-connected communicator, Jennifer has led or supported interactive social networking efforts for security industry conferences including RSA Conference, Black Hat USA and SOURCE Conference, and founded the Security Twits, a community for network security professionals. She also helps run communications for the Security Bloggers Network.

Finally, Jennifer co-hosts the Quick'n'Dirty social media podcast with Aaron Strout, is a founding member of Technically Women, a communal blog project, and manages marketing and public relations for Silicon Valley Tweet-Up, a networking group that raises money for family-oriented charities. Jennifer was profiled in Silicon Valley San Jose Business Journal's "40 Under 40" edition, as a rising star for 2009.

Talkback Most Recent of 6 Talkback(s)

  • Twitter Chats
    Hey Jennifer,

    I moderate the #thepr20chat (Weds., 8pm EST). My philosophy for chats (especially this one) has always that when people stop showing up or get bored...it's time to move on. Nothing lasts forever, there are a lot of 'trendy' things popping up, shiny objects, etc.

    If the people don't find value then it's not worth anyone's time to participate. The value, I think, of this chat is that except for the first couple of chats all of the topics have come from people who participate.

    Now, that said...does the chat cause noise for people not interested in PR, most likely. wink

    Beth Harte
    Community Manager, MarketingProfs
    @bethharte
    ZDNet Gravatar
    BethHarte
    15th Sep 2009
  • RE: Twitter hashtag #chats: Valuable or just noise?
    I agree with Beth. These hashtag chats are beneficial to participants as a way to learn and to expose themselves to new peeps on Twitter. People ask all the time, "how do I find people to follow on Twitter" I say use Hashtag chats.

    @TomMartin
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tmartin@...
    15th Sep 2009
  • RE: Twitter hashtag #chats: Valuable or just noise?
    I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Margaret

    http://businesseshome.net
    ZDNet Gravatar
    susan01
    15th Sep 2009
  • Thanks guys
    Appreciate all of the feedback. We've extended the survey period, so with hope we'll get some good data.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Jennifer Leggio
    22nd Sep 2009
  • #Hashtag = #Good
    I find hashtags to be both valuable to find
    information/content/conversations and people I should
    follow, and I use them extensively in my own posts. I think
    they are underused and undervalued.

    http://Twitter.com/chrisgrayson
    ZDNet Gravatar
    ChrisGnyc
    6th Oct 2009
  • RE: Twitter hashtag #chats: Valuable or just noise?
    My 5 takes: 1. Hashtag chats encourage sharing on the one end while feeding curiosity on the other -- all serving to reinforce assumptions AND stimulate new revelations/trends on a given topic. 2. Today's #socialmedia discussion, while crazy fast and surely generating attention, made you think on your feet and go with your gut post. 3. Many peers are listening so chats force you to speak wisely, but with an open mind. 4. Chats rekindle conversations with old acquaintances and attract motivated, smart participants from which you can connect and expand your purview. 5. I?d say my early adopter network is biased re: overhearing it. They generally understand the options of ignoring it vs. jumping in when intrigued or eavesdropping later to scoop up the nuggets and re-share. You have my thumps-up on hashtag chat value ? thx for the discussion! - @carlainsf
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Carla Schlemminger
    6th Oct 2009

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