Updated: Guide to local Chat Hours on Twitter
A guide to local East Sussex chat hours on Twitter
Updated January 2021
A chat hour is a pre-determined time on Twitter, where a group of people join in using a hashtag to have a conversation.
A fair few news ones have sprung up recently as a result of the coronavirus pandemic – so we have updated our blog to reflect this.
In our local area (Sussex) we now have
- #BrightonHour – Mondays 8.30-9.30pm
- #MidSussexHour – Wednesday 11:00-12:00pm
- #1066Hour for Hastings & Rother – Wednesday 11:00-12:00pm
- #SussexHour – Thursdays 10am – 11am
- #EBHour for Eastbourne & surrounding towns – Thursdays 7.30-8.30pm – hosted by us!
- #UCCHour for Uckfield – Fridays 11:00-12:00pm
- #FirstFridayVirtual – every First Friday of the month at 1:00pm
How to get involved in a chat hour
- Log in to Twitter and then go to your search bar top right of the screen and type in the name of the chat hour with the hashtag e.g. #EBHour
- You will then be taken to a view which has two options – View Top tweets, and latest. You need to select ‘Latest’ so you can see the conversation as it happens.
- If you intend to join in regularly you can save that search (top right of the screen)
- It’s a good idea to open a second browser screen and have that screen logged in for Twitter and select your notifications tab. This allows you to check if someone tweets you directly, so you can reply quickly without going away from the search screen.
It’s just businesses selling – right?
Wrong! Yes, businesses are the predominant group in some chat hours, but they are there to develop relationships – just as with any networking event offline. Charities and other organisations also join in as do individuals!
Chat hours give people a chance to get to know each other as people, share stories, a laugh, and other experiences as well as a little bit of promotion what they may be doing.
If you are new to Twitter, chat hours are a great way of getting to know people and build a network.
Top tip! Don’t forget to use the hashtag for the chat hour in your tweet! And don’t forget if you begin a tweet with a Twitter account (the @…) this can reduce the visibility of your tweet.
