Introducing TwitterWhat the # is a hashtag?How can I participate in #IPChat

CIHC Social Media Toolkit 01

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets.

How to Sign Up with Twitter:

1) Got to Twitter.com

2) Click the Sign Up button.

3) Enter the required info.

4) Give yourself a photo.

5) Write a brief bio.

Now you’ll have a twitter profile and you can start to ‘follow’ people and organizations that interest you.

For instance, if you search for @CIHC_ca you’ll be directed to our page (as seen below) and you can follow us!

Then you’ll see all of our exciting tweets and links.

One Very Important Thing to Remember:

You need to use these tools in order tounderstand them and how they work.

Participation and engagement are the keysto getting the most out of Twitter or any ofthe other social media tools.

Learn by participating with us during our#IPChat and feel free to ask any questions#IPChat and feel free to ask any questionsalong the way!

Wait a Minute!what do these symbols mean?

@ #

@indicates a name or ‘handle’ for a particularperson or organization on twitter.

each twitter name is unique.

@CIHC_ca is our official twitter handle.

#This is called a ‘hashtag’ and it is a very useful tool for tracking topics, live events,breaking news and/or communities.

By tagging words or phrases you can maketweets searchable/archivable for others tofollow either during a live event or in the future.future.

For instance: some of the ‘hashtags’ that @CIHC_causes regularly are:

#IPChat#interprofessional#collaborative#healthcare#IPE

Here’s what a tweet with hashtags looks like:

So anybody searching twitter for the hashtags#interprofessional or #health or #IPChat would see this tweet as well as others withthe same hashtags.

Participationis essentialto understanding

OK, So...You’ve got your twitter account and you’vestarted to follow @CIHC_ca and some ofthe other thought leaders in #interprofessional #collaborative #health.

You’re starting to understand hashtags andhow they work and you want to participatein #IPChat...in #IPChat...

But...You don’t know what #IPChat means orhow to follow it.

IPC stands for InterProfessional Collaboration Chat and ithas been abbreviated for use on twitter.

You can follow #IPChat by going towww.tweetchat.com.

Tweetchat.com helps you track #IPChat.

Twitter is a powerful tool that allowsinstantaneous communication betweenpeople across town and across the world.

@CIHC_ca looks forward to participating inconversations about #interprofessional #collaboration and #health in open forumslike #IPChat and others now and in thelike #IPChat and others now and in thefuture.

This presentation was created by Sean Cranbury for the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative.

Any questions, comments or suggestionsare warmly received via email or twitter at

sean [at] cihc [dot] caoror@seancranbury