Finding Communities on Twitter to Connect With

Twitter is a great place to share your story, to build a community outside the one you already have. For me, I’ve built connections through a few of the Twitter chats. Each for a different reason but all of them share the benefits of shared passions and people who offer their perspective freely. If you want to meet more folks on Twitter while building your knowledge base, these chats are the perfect combination! (If you haven’t participated in Twitter chats, I’m also posting a short “how to” with screen captures.)

I have learned a lot from:

• #AgChat (Tuesdays 7-9 pm central) which has been great for me extending my network of agricultural contacts. The number of people who have participated in AgChat and the diversity of farms they represent is incredible. The account to follow for information on topics is @AgChat.
• #BlogChat (Sundays 8-9 pm central) was something I stumbled on after I started my blog. Wow what I’ve learned in terms of design, content, outreach, etc. and there are always new things to be gleaned from it with the growth and development of the people involved. @MackCollier is the founder and he provides weekly info on topics, the transcripts, etc. — he’s a great Southern guy too so you can expect great hospitality.
• #GardenChat (Mondays 8-9 pm central) has been an occassional forum for me and one that offers great exchange of ideas about gardening both flowers and vegetables. The new moderator account is @TheGardenChat. You can tell the chat’s founder Bren (@BG_Garden) who moderates it and my friend Annie (@GreenSoil) who got me connected I said hi f I don’t make it.
• #DadChat (Thursdays 8-9 pm central) is one that is mostly for parents but if you help with kids or love kids or parents, you’ll find great community here!
  

There are more than 200 chats on Twitter currently so it can be confusing to find one that meets some of your interests. Robert Swanwick has created a spreadsheet of all the chats on Google Docs.  BUT since I wanted to walk through the list to see what I could be missing that would be of interest to me, I thought I’d go ahead and pull a small list I could share here because as I browsed the list for myself I kept thinking this tweep would enjoy that or wow so-and-so shares that passion! It goes all the way from professions like education and science to sports (hockey & Vikings fans). If you would like to know more about participating in a chat on Twitter, please see this post.

#agchat  – keep an ongoing, open dialogue amongst the various players in the agriculture, farming and ranching worlds. For people in agriculture, including those in the business of producing food, feed, fuel and fiber.

• When: Tues 8-10 pm EDT
• Founded or moderated by: @mpaynknoper @agchat

#artchat  – Discussion about the future of humanity inspired by artists’ leadership.

• When: Wed 9pm EST4-5pm EST
• Founded or moderated by: @AmericaNowHere

#bakechat  – We’re a weekly Twitter-based chat covering the professional and lay-person world of baking, pastry and desserts, co-hosted by Chefs Claire Fountain and Jeffrey J Kingman

• When: Mon 9pm EST
• Founded or moderated by: @JeffreyJKingman @ohitsclaire

#blogchat  – Bettering your company or personal blog.

• When: Sun 8-9pm CST
• Founded or moderated by: @MackCollier

#cookchat  – A monthly Twitter chat all about food and its preparation, typically on the 3rd or 4th Wednesday of the month. Our chat is for all foodies, novices to world renowned chefs.

• When: Wed 8-9pm CST
• Founded or moderated by: @MattLaCasse @SJOGborn

#DadsTalking  – A community of Dads that are using Twitter to connect and to find ways to talk about issues of being a Dad in today’s world.

• When: Wed 10 p.m. EST
• Founded or moderated by: @Genuine @dadarocks @DadStreet @Tshaka_Zulu

#edchat  – An incredible collaborative tool for educators to debate and evaluate solutions to various problems through Twitter

• When: Tues 12pm ET & 7pm ET
• Founded or moderated by: @shellterrell @web20classroom @tomwhitby

#elemchat  – A weekly discussion about strategies and issues specific to teaching in elementary contexts

• When: Thurs 11pm GMT (6PM EST)8AM (Sydney Australia)
• Founded or moderated by: @tcash @NancyTeaches @thompseg @louwinsr @doriedance

#foodchat  – Monthly conversation Designed to bring consumers together with agriculture on the third Tuesday of each month to bridge the farm gate to the consumer plate.

• When: Tues 3rd Tue mnthly 8-10pm EDT
• Founded or moderated by: @foodchat @mpaynknoper

#gardenchat  – A weekly conversation for gardeners to discuss all aspects of gardening.

• When: Mon 9-10pm EST
• Founded or moderated by: @getinthegarden

#gno  – Girl’s Night Out is a weekly ritual, where women from all over the globe and all walks of life, get together. Topics vary week to week with expert panelists and a moderator leading the discussion by shooting out/answering topic-related questions ev

• When: Tues 7:00pm – 9:00pm CST
• Founded or moderated by: @jylMomIF @momitforward

#healthchat  – Discussing current trends in health, fitness & nutrition.

• When: Wed 9-10pm EST
• Founded or moderated by: @sybir @Nick_Kelly @daviddelevante

#MAUchat  – Mothers and others acting on behalf of the world’s children. A new subject or issue each week, from global education to how to inspire each other. Each week we will have resident experts. Join a new global discussion!

• When: Thurs 10 am PT, 11am MT, Noon CT,
• 1pm ET
• Founded or moderated by: @mothersactingup @earnest_mama

#polschat  – A weekly discussion about politics & public policy. Everyone is welcome no matter what party you come from.

• When: Wed 9-10pm ET
• Founded or moderated by: @iBridgeforth

#puckchat  – Are you a hockey fan? Join us for our #puckchat where fans get together from across the league to discuss 5 current topics in the NHL for an hour!

• When: Thurs 8-9am PT and 6-7pm PT
• Founded or moderated by: @viewfrommyseats @gimmeapuck

#RDchat  – Monthly chat on nutrition lead by registered dietitians.

• When: Wed 8 pm EST
• Founded or moderated by: @JanetHelm

#scichat  – #scichat will engage educators and scientists in an ongoing discussion with the goal of sharing ideas, growing professionally and improving the teaching of science.

• When: Tues 9-10pm EST
• Founded or moderated by: @brunsell @gardenglen

#scribechat  – Focusing on the most controversial aspects of writing and publishing in a changing industry. Brought to you by Scribblerati.com, the social network for writers and illustrators, founded by @LiaKeyes

• When: Thurs 6-7 pm PST , 9-10pm EST
• Founded or moderated by: @LiaKeyes

#SMBiz  – Open chat session where small businesses of every kind can meet, network and ask all kinds of questions in any of the aforementioned areas

• When: Tues 7-8pm CST
• Founded or moderated by: @smbiz @sternalpr @sternalmrktg

#SOSFood  – sosfood is a  foodie chat and Twitter event held the last Wednesday of every month . The chat joins food lovers and food bloggers to share food-related topics. Participants are encouraged to help raise funds for Share Our Strength’s fight to end childhood

• When: Wed Last Wed of mnth 9-11 pm ET
• Founded or moderated by: @sharestrength

#TechChat  – A weekly Twitter chat about B2B social media for high-tech marketing*. Join me Tuesday

• When: Tues 8pm ET
• Founded or moderated by: @marketingprofs

#TFT  – True Food Tuesday – first live chat about TrueFood. Thanks to @SeattleTallPopp

• When: Wed 3-4 PM EST
• Founded or moderated by: @LDGourmet

#TNI  – Traveler’s Night In is a lively discussion about the world of travel, a different theme each week. Expert hosts tweet a new question every 10 minutes. Join us!

• When: Thurs 3:30PM EST
• Founded or moderated by: @ZipsetRachel @Zipsetgo @Goapril @GoSarabeth

#VikingsChat  – A weekly chat about all things Minnesota Vikings, taking place during Vikings games, usually starting Sundays at Noon CST, depending on the Vikings schedule.

• When: Sunday Usually 12-3 pm CST, depending upon schedule
• Founded or moderated by: @mnvikingschat @derickson

#winechat  – Weekly chat all about wine including why we love wine, what we love about wine, what kind of wine is good wine and how best to enjoy wine!

• When: Thurs 8-9 PM CST
• Founded or moderated by: @winechanneltv

#workisgood  – This is to bring together people who cherish work and share ideas and thoughts on what makes work fun for them.Objective is to create a world where work is not a drag and everyone goes to work with a purpose

• When: Thurs 3-4 PM EST
• Founded or moderated by: @WORKISGOOD1