A Twitter chat is a fantastic way for brands to build a solid relationship with their audience. It’s typically an hour-long discussion via Twitter about a topic that is relevant to both the chat host and participants– anything from what it’s like to go to university for the first time to a new album from a celebrity rap artist.

But it’s not enough to choose a topic and time and let loose on Twitter. A great chat takes planning, organization and – possibly the most important – follow-up.

I’ve been an active participant in a number of Twitter chats, and I’ve noticed that some things work… and some things flop. Here are ten ways to make sure your next Twitter chat is one that works!

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Those French! First they want Twitter to bend the rules for them and now they refuse to use a perfectly good word just because it isn’t au français. Bah!

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If Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, & Future, he will likely be shown 3 scenarios that highlight the way he wastes every Christmas – Tweeting his brains out.

So don’t feel so bad if you spend your holidays with the ol’ 140 Characters, on Twitter. You’re not the only one…

If you are lonely; or, if your family is intolerable; or if you are a Twitter junkie, we have created a list of 6 ways to make your holiday experience on Twitter more fantastic:
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Perhaps the most important term in the Essential Twitter Dictionary we published last week is “hashtag.”

A hashtag, or “#”, denotes a keyword or topic on Twitter. It’s any string of characters without spaces.

Some of the most popular hashtags from the past few months are: #NFL, #Election2012, #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday.

Hashtags are the quickest and easiest way to search for and find out what Twitter users are currently talking about. They’re also key to productive Twitter engagement – hashtags put your tweets in front of the people who are interested in them.

But how did it all start?

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Whether you’re a Twitter power user or a nervous neophyte, there are some words you’ve just got to know in order to interact on Twitter. We’ve compiled the essential Twitter dictionary so you can tweet with confidence, @mention frequently, and sift through your followers and friends without getting them mixed up.

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One of the golden currencies of Twitter is the retweet. When someone retweets you, they’re telling their followers that you’ve got something interesting to say. But getting retweeted isn’t an easy task – you’ve got to offer something new and interesting to your followers, which can be difficult to do consistently. If you’re having some trouble in this area, we’ve got five types of tweets that will get you retweeted, so you can start impressing the Twitterverse with your insight.
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Twitter has improved how tweets appear on Facebook for those users who have connected the two networks.

In typical Twitter style, this richer integration was rolled out without much fanfare, but it does make for a more readable, functional Twitter-to-Facebook experience.
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The much-anticipated video game Diablo III was released on Tuesday. But most players haven’t been able to actually play the game yet – and they’re voicing their complaints on Twitter.
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The White House’s Chief Technical Officer Todd Park (@Todd_Park) will be participating in a Twitter chat today at 2pm ET, answering questions about how the Obama administration is embracing technology.
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As we mentioned last week, Twitter hashtags appear to be taking over the world – and this is just another proof point. American Express, the credit card giant that partnered with Twitter last month to bring self-serv ads (promoted accounts and promoted tweets) to select businesses, is now skillfully using (and growing) its significant Twitter presence as its base for automating special offers for cardmembers via #hashtags.
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