Social Media Dictionary: Tweet-Up

What is a Tweet-up?

Events organized and promoted through Twitter where users meet in person to network, discuss hot topics, fundraise or socialize. Tweet-ups have sometimes been compared to a flash mob because of the short time frame from the conception to execution of an event and the huge number of people who attend. Often attendees of tweet-ups have never met face-to-face, but may have developed strong relationships online.

An interesting example of a tweet-up on a much larger scale is Twestival, which took place in 180 cities including Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, New York, and Los Angeles. On February 12th 2009, Twitter users and their friends gathered to raise money for Charity Water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Twestival attendees met up with their local Twitter community to fundraise, network with other “tweeters” and participate in the live global “twestival” conversation happening online (and in some cases were able to see the Twitter conversation on large screens at the venue). The event promotion and conversations about the event were communicated primarily through Twitter.

We’ve seen other examples of successful Twitter meet-ups dedicated to coming together for a cause. In December, #HOHOTO, a sold out 600-person Toronto Twitter event, raised $25,000 for the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank.

Key learning:
The Twitter community is very active online but also in person. The strength of twitter is in the large number of frequent, short updates from users. The public’s text based messages allows information about an event, a breaking news story, or a call-to-action to spring up quickly and generate buzz sometimes in a matter of minutes.

First Adventures of a Social Media Intern

I recently joined the com.motion team as the new Social Media Intern. The team at com.motion is creative, hard-working and enthusiastic - all elements that excite a “Gen Y’er” such as myself. My first days as a social media intern have been interesting, starting with first figuring out what being a Social Media Intern means!

What have I learned so far? Well, being a Social Media Intern means that as a self-declared geek, blogger and online news junkie, I get to utilize some of my favorite tools and stay on top of the current web trends. In doing so, I support the com.motion team in building relationships with the online community and establish engaging content with strong messages. When com.motion said they were looking for a “social media rockstar”, I was happy to stand up and yell “That’s me!”

Being new to the team also means that I have a legitimate excuse to “creep” (search on social networks, mostly facebook) my new colleagues. Starting a new job or project is a great time to add new connections online, which helps gain insight into your newfound team members. I am looking forward to new connections and fascinating projects that will be developed by the com.motion team, and the continued conversations that will happen right here at the com.motion blog!