#Quoted

When I found out I would be taking part in a tweetchat, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I don't use twitter too often and I have never taken place in a conversation with several others through hashtags.

I signed onto twitter at about 8:50pm, nervous that they would start early, but sure enough, 9:00pm rolled around and the moderator, @tribe2point0, sent out a welcome message. People rapidly were joining by including #PinChat and I didn't want to fall behind. I started by introducing myself as others were doing. Immediately I was welcomed into the community as if I had always been a part of the chat, comforting me for the next hour of conversation.

@Personal_Ink, also known as P.INK, was a special guest for the hour who was there to talk about a business they started via Pinterest. They provide tattoo designs, inspiration and information for breast cancer survivors. It was incredibly helpful to ask this company questions to learn more about how they got started and the effort it takes to upkeep the site. I was intrigued by what they do because one day I would like to work with a cancer-related organization and this completely broadened by view as to how I can impact this audience through social media. I was curious as to how this impacted others rather than just their target audience because when it comes to breast cancer, the entire family is impacted, not just the women. Through conversation with this company, I found that for them it is easier to only target the women because their site is focused on visual images and men are not as interested in communicating that way. In my opinion, this makes their social media strategy easier to create because they are only focusing on one gender. P.INK did send an article to explain why men are not as interested in talking about this topic. The moderator was great about understanding when she should jump in with a question and when she should allow other members of the tweetchat to ask their own questions.

I found that though the tweetchat, I really enjoyed seeing what other people asked the company, because it sparked ideas in my mind that I may not have thought about otherwise. I was surprised to see how quickly P.INK was able to answer questions and provide supplemental information to give us a full answer through the character limit in twitter. Often times I found it challenging to cut down all I wanted to say because of the limit. It was comforting to see that others supported my thoughts through mentions or favorites. By the end of my conversation, I looked back at my twitter interactions and was amazed at how much positive attention I had, even though it was my first time. I even got quoted in a #Storify story.

I look forward to getting involved again in the future to learn even more about how social media can be used effectively, especially through Pinterest.

If you ever want to learn more, I would encourage you to join us on Wednesday from 9:00-10:00pm.