What is a Tweetchat?  A tweetchat is a scheduled on topic discussion within Twitter using a Hashtag (#).  If you don’t know what a Hashtag is then go HERE.  This is a very useful application for Twitter and it is a great way for anyone, especially PTs to get connected with other professionals.

How does a Tweetchat work?  Well, first things first there are tons of different Tweetchats that are all chats on different subjects ranging from technology to sports and the environment.  Here is a list of a bunch of Healthcare related tweetchats and their weekly times.  If you clicked on that link then you can see that each different hashtag has a specific time that the tweetchat will take place.  For example, one of my favorites is #DPTStudent which takes places at 9est every Wednesday.  The topic of the weekly discussion will usually be posted during the week on the hashtag and then at 9est the discussion begins!  Simple as that.

So why should I care about these tweetchats anyway?  I think as a DPT student and future professional the value of getting involved with groups of like-minded physical therapists is priceless.  Not only am I learning from people way smarter than me but I am seeing different perspectives to problems that I will face in school and out of school.  The purpose of the tweetchat is to give your content context!  What I mean by that is that we all have content or things we know about and like to talk about, but without a proper context to share that insight we are just blabbing into space.  If you place your insight into a useful context, like a relevant tweetchat the value of your messages is increase dramatically.  You are talking to people at that point, not just updating the world about about your just ate for lunch…big difference.

Hope this is helpful.

–@zduhammy