Tweet chats* can be a great way to connect with your online community, make serendipitous connections–and learn a lot too.

My favorite tweet chats:

• Hashtag Social Media, which was started by my friend Marc Meyer. It’s all about social business (emphasis on business). And smart people sharing what they know and thinking through what comes next. (It runs on Tuesdays from 12 noon-1 p.m. EST.)
• SoloPR, which  is built around a community of small business PR, marketing, and communications professionals on Twitter. It is sometimes about PR, sometimes about business basics. I don’t always find the topics relevant to me–but I love the comaraderie that host Kellye Crane has created. (It runs on Wednesdays from 1-2 p.m. EST.)

I’ve also been trying lately to make it onto Marketing Profs Profschat (Fridays from 12 noon-1 p.m. EST) when I can.

There are several other great tweet chats, including a couple that are scheduled after hours when I’m disengaged from the office. Though I’ve been known to lurk around blogchat (Sundays nights) on occasion.

What’s your favorite tweet chat?

*For the uninitiated, tweet chats are organized conversations, on Twitter, around a defined topic. Each one has a hashtag (# sign) to make it searchable as the hour ticks by. Just picture 100 or 1,000 people in a room all talking to a host and each other, spreading ideas and/or shouting out stuff they just heard that’s worth sharing with their wider audiences. Get the idea?

Photo by Shannon Kringen (Flickr).