Your help is needed to shape the future of wedding Twitter networking hours – please complete this short survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/8C7CLK6
Last month marked two years since my wedding Twitter networking hour started.
#UKWedLunch was born to cater for couples planning a wedding in their lunch break. It was designed to connect brides and grooms looking for recommendations with UK based wedding professionals networking in their lunch break.
It has around 1700 followers and counting; a different discussion topic (currently on the second and third week of the month); lively interaction; and lots of connections and new contacts have been formed as a result of #UKWedLunch.
Changing focus of wedding Twitter networking hours
However in the quieter networking times (which typically seem to coincide with school holidays and half terms), I question whether twitter networking hours have run their course in today’s busy and ever changing social media platforms.
The purpose of twitter networking hours (topics or conversation typically grouped together by a common hashtag at a regular time/day) has commonly been to find new contacts, discuss topics, gain more followers, share other people’s content, increase sales and primarily have a conversation with others (this is ‘social’ media after all!)
For me, twitter networking hours should be about contributing and participating in a conversation. The old saying ‘you get out what you put in’ is often true in any form of networking and more so when you’re online. After all, if you just tweet and run then how do you know if what you are saying is on message with the week’s current topic?
All networking is a huge time commitment. Nowadays, it seems that the twitter forum is saturated with networking hours and new ones pop up all the time. Within each networking hour, there are also an increasing number of sales tweets rather than quality advice or conversation. Rather than spreading a marketing message wide, it is often better to be selective with the networking you choose so you can be more focused and have a personal approach.
Additionally, the users of these hours is changing to become more about supplier relationships rather than couples searching for answers.
Evolution of wedding Twitter networking hours
So I’m left wondering whether twitter networking hours have had their day, who participates in them and what is the purpose of them now.
I feel that #UKWedLunch is at a crossroads and I’d like it to evolve to the next stage. It was one of the first wedding twitter hours to focus on a separate topic each week with top tips and advice. Now is the time for a new format in twitter networking.
You can help shape the future of wedding twitter networking hours by completing this short survey.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/8C7CLK6
I’m looking forward to how things develop and the next year of networking. Please spread the word so others can join us on Wednesdays 1-2pm on Twitter.
