Join Us For Monthly Chat On Twitter

Posted by Dana | 0 comments

Renae and I will be hosting a monthly twitter chat for Heart of the Matter. This will be an opportunity for homeschoolers everywhere to connect with each other and chat about what is going on in our homeschools. Following is some basic information about getting started on Twitter for those of you who are unfamiliar with it. If you are already on Twitter, just skip to the end for instructions on how to join in the chat.

About Twitter

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging tool that allows users to send 140 character messages, or “tweets.” It is a great way to connect with others having similar interests and enjoy some near real-time informal conversation which may not be available through other avenues. I have also found that a lot of other homeschoolers are more than willing to share links with you if you ask for recommendations while preparing lessons. You can follow as few or as many people as you like, and can block your profile so that the only people who can read your tweets are those whom you approve.

Getting Started on Twitter

Getting started is relatively simple. Just go to Twitter.com and select a username and password. You can create a profile for yourself and even include a link to your blog from your Twitter home page. There are also Twitter backgrounds to choose from, or you can design your own.

Finding People to Follow

Following someone on Twitter essentially means you are subscribing to their tweets. When they post a message, it will show up on your home page and you can read and respond to their comments. Twitter has a function to search Twitter for people that you already know or to invite your friends to join with you. You can also go to Twitter Search and enter any keyword to find people talking about that subject. I found quite a few other homeschoolers to follow this way when I first joined Twitter.

HSChat will serve as the main host of this chat. You will be able to find everyone involved by looking in the friends list of HSChat.

Some of the authors here at Heart of the Matter are also on Twitter. Feel free to add yours in the comment box so that we can find each other!

Amy B: @ipop31
Amy S: @amy_sue
Angela: @memofchaoticmom
Beth: @PagesofOurLife
Dana: @principled
Darcy: @my3boybarians
Dawn: @dawnmhsh
Dianne: @bunnytrails
Heather: @sprittibee
Jamie: @jamieworley
Julie: @octamom
Karin: @karinkath
Lee: @the_homescholar
Luke: @luke_holzmann
Mandy: @mandymom
Marsha: @drewsfamilytx
Nikowa: @nikowa
Renae: @reflective
Robin: @heartofwisdom
Sheila: @sheilagregoire
Tiany: @tiany
Yvonne: @gr8tful4grace

Joining in the Chat

We will be hosting a homeschool chat the second Monday of every month from 8 to 10PM Central Standard Time. Feel free to join in when you are ready and leave when you need to. The hashtag for this chat will be #hsc for homeschool chat.

A hashtag is just a means of tagging tweets so that people can follow what is being said on a given topic. In order for your tweets to be seen by everyone participating in the chat, you will need to remember to include #hsc in each tweet. If you forget, don’t worry about it too much. Whoever you directly responded to and those following you will see the tweet regardless, but this makes it easier for everyone interested to participate.

There are a few ways to join in a chat, but to begin with, one of the simplest is to simply go to TweetChat.com and enter your Twitter username and password. You will be asked what room you wish to enter. Type #hsc and the tweet stream containing the hashtag will appear. You can directly respond directly from there as well as check out the profiles of the others participating in the chat.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! It can be a bit confusing at first, but it does not take time to get the hang of it once you set up a profile and follow a few people.

Dana Hanley is a fourth year homeschooling mom to three girls and a boy. In her column, she will be taking a look at homeschoolers who have affected the news and news that affects homeschoolers. Dana is the host of Home School Talk, a weekly one hour broadcast focused on homeschool news and opinion. Visit her blog, Principled Discovery.