Last night, I joined a number of producers, media and professionals for the inaugural Agchat. Michelle Payn-Knoper (@mpaynknoper on Twitter) has organized Agchat as a "weekly conversation for folks involved in the business of growing food, fuel, feed & fiber." Agchat takes place via the micro-blogging tool Twitter (www.twitter.com) each Tuesday from 7 until 9 p.m. (CT).
The Twitter posts, known as "tweets," are tied together through the use of the hashtag "#agchat" (see the previous post "Twitter's Role in Breaking News" for more on hashtags). Last night about 400 tweets were shared by the 30 unique users engaged in the conversation. Agchat covered a range of topics, but primarily focused on how to improve public understanding of and support for agriculture.
I used a very effective tool called Tweetchat (www.tweetchat.com) to participate. Tweetchat allows a user to monitor and contribute to a Twitter-based conversation without having to open multiple browser windows or tabs. You simply enter your Twitter username and password, then enter your room name. A room name can be any keyword or hashtag. Like many social networking tools, Twitter allows web developers to create tools that accesses data and content on Twitter and reuses it in a new way. Tweetchat makes it easier to create and participate in a Twitter-based online discussion.
If you'd like to see the discussion from last night, go to http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23agchat.
If you want to participate in the next agchat or any other Twitter conversation, you’ll need a Twitter account. It’s easy to signup. Just go to www.twitter.com and click “Get Started-Join.” Just follow the instructions from there. You’ll need a Twitter “handle”. This is your unique name on Twitter. Mine is “ndbob.” You’ll also need an e-mail address for “Forgot Your Password” requests and other alerts from Twitter. Your e-mail address will not be shared with other Twitter users.
If you have questions about Twitter or other social netwoking tools, please let me know. I'd be happy to assist you with setting up your Twitter account or even sponsoring a Twitter conversation of your own.