How I Prepare for Tweetjams

You might be thinking …

Dude, this is 2017. Who still does Tweetjams?

Well, I’m here to tell you that Tweetjams are still alive and well. Tweetjams are also as effective as ever. And, Tweetjams are a great way to think about a problem.

And, true to form … all of this happens in 140 characters (or less) … Tweetjams Are Great for Communities (click2tweet)

This is especially true when you have a Master of The Tweetjam running things. There are a few people that run regular tweetjams and they do a great job being a Master of Ceremonies (A Tw-emcee?), but there aren’t many that have taken the Tweetjam to new heights like Christian Buckley has.

As I wrote about in Tweetjams Done Right

Why Tweetjams?

It’s simple. They work. (click2tweet)

How I Prepare

As the title of this post suggests I do take time to prepare for Tweetjams. Based on some 140 character missives as they get going you might be surprised, but I do indeed and in fact prepare.

Three Things:

1. I look for the questions and review them
2. I consider a few ideas around the questions
3. I create a theme of points that are relevant to me and my point of view

I’m not looking to force my way of thinking on anyone. However, like everyone else I have my own experiences and points of view on various topics.

What if the questions aren’t available? Generally it means I won’t bother participating.

Pro Tip: Pre- Publish the Questions! (click2tweet)

Tweetjam Etiquette

There aren’t a lot of rules here. However, a few I try to follow and offer up for your use here.

1. Skipping a question
2. More than 140 characters … think Tweetstorms

#1 - What if a question doesn’t relate to me? No problem. You can skip anything that doesn’t resonate. It’s up to you. Unless you are participating in a Tweetjam in a professional or invited capacity you have the option of skipping things.

#2 Tweetstorms for Longer than 140 Character Responses

What if your responses take more than 140 characters?

I prefer the format that Marc Andreessen pioneered. It’s as simple as this. If your tweet response is going to take more than 140 characters just write more tweets. Use the 1/ or 1) model and go to 2/, 3/, 4/, etc. Simple!

Start with the format 1/ or 1) and add as many as you need to complete your thought or get your point across.

What I do along the way

Here are the responses and the preparation steps I do in toto from the “Evolution of the User Group” Tweetjam on 31 Jan 2017. This was a CollabTalk Tweetjam and was coordinated and moderated by the aforementioned Master of The Tweetjam … Christian Buckley.

You can see my replies and the format of the Tweetjam – questions, themes, and responses to each of the questions.

All of the details, including a really slick InfoGraph from TyGraph is posted here in Tweetjam Format, InfoGraph and Responses

I have duplicated the InfoGraphic below. Click on it. It’s a

Check out the InfoGraphic below. Click on it. It’s a live link to an interactive graphic. There are 6 active pages … use the arrows.

Will Tweetjams Die Off?

Perhaps. But, for me they are a great way to get a lot of people thinking, chattering and yes … Tweeting about a core topic, ideas and when done right a pre-published set of questions.

How do Tweetjams compare to Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) efforts? (click2tweet)

For a great example of how to do a rock solid AMA session see Bill Gates’ (yes, THAT Bill Gates) and his most recent AMA on Reddit.

The main difference between a Tweetjam and an Ask Me Anything session is that a Tweetjam is multiple ideas (authors) vs. one core author in an AMA.

This was a compilation of three blog posts. Mainly because there was a lot to cover. I hope you were able to follow along and make sense of it all.

Tweetjams are a great way to connect, engage and grow a community. I hope to see you on the next one.

Here are the Three Posts (including this one)

1. Tweetjam Format, InfoGraph and Responses
2. Tweetjams Done Right
3. How I Prepare for Tweetjams (this one)

Drop a comment here or ping me directly. I’d like to get your thoughts.

I am also a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to the #1 Career blog for Millennials, the Personal Branding Blog

Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He has spent most of his career in the Enterprise Content Management industry. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

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