Each week there is a conversation happening called #SE16Hour; it’s for anyone who wants to find out about SE16 and all it has to offer. We hold a conversation on the social media platform Twitter between the folk who contribute by adding tweets with the hashtag #SE16Hour. (A hashtag is just a word with this symbol # in front; that allows people to use it as a search term in Twitter and so bring together everything with that added.) This means that anyone who creates a search on their own Twitter account for #SE16Hour can see what everyone is saying just about as they send their tweets. Lots of people come along to ‘listen in’ at 7.30pm on Tuesday and watch the conversation whilst a brave few add their two-penneth to the flow.It’s hosted by the fine @SE16Hour who holds the ring and keep us to time!

How does it work?

  1. Use the hashtag #SE16Hour in every tweet and remember to keep to 140 characters
  2. Between 19:30-20:30 every Tuesday, type #SE16Hour into the search box on Twitter to see what people are talking about
  3. Click on ‘All’ at the top to view ALL the tweets
  4. To add your own message or to compose a new tweet, make sure you include #SE16Hour and your message will appear on your search and when anyone else does a Twitter search for #SE16Hour
  5. To get the most out of #SE16Hour you need to tweet with other people. Join in a conversation started by someone else if you are not confident to start a thread of your own
  6. #SE16Hour can be fast and furious, especially if you try to keep up with every tweet and follow every conversation. Don’t worry, the tweets don’t go anywhere. You can always go back to the Twitter search at a later date and go through any you have missed.
  7. Top tip: you can ‘favourite’ a particular tweet to find it again quickly.
  8. And that’s it!

Chat about what?

We have all sorts of folk along from old hands who have used Twitter to link up with local Tweeps (Twitter people) over years to new businesses trying to make an impact on the local market. We’ve shared great pictures of the area – see the Instagram feed for @SE16Hour. We run quizzes about the area, testing how much people know about their neighbourhood. We get special offers from businesses and news of forthcoming events. We’ve heard about local shops and restaurants and how customers have found them. We digest the local news for the week and think about how we want things to turn out. Sometimes several chats are going at the same time and it can be quite busy!

You are invited!

The key thing is that it is an informal way for people – using only the phone in their pocket, the tablet on their knee or sitting at their computer – to meet their neighbours in real time without leaving their home! We want to take it a step further though and we have arranged a TweetUp for this next Thursday (10 July). It is running at the pub St James of Bermondsey in St James Street SE16 and starting at 7.30pm. We are hoping to see quite a few old friends and to make some new ones. If you want to meet some other people who are also interested in making more of our community, then do turn up. Its a great way to network and make new friends. Bring a smile and good humour. We want to dream together of a better SE16 and how we can be part of making it happen.

Details on Facebook here: SE16Hour TweetUp