Commerce Schedules Census Twitter Chat for September 23

September 16, 2020
Filed Under: Community Development

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce has scheduled a Twitter Chat to discuss the 2020 Census on September 23, 2020. The purpose of the online discussion is to increase awareness of the 2020 Census, drive engagement, and share knowledge through conversation across social media. Twitter Chats are quick and easy and the public and Census stakeholders are encouraged to participate. Simply log into Twitter, follow the conversation and respond and retweet as you would normally.

Below is a quick explanation of how Twitter Chats work and a guide to participating.

Twitter Chat Guide

Step 1: Mark your calendar.

Our chat is planned for Wednesday, September 23rd from 2-3 p.m. If you know you will not be able to participate in the moment, don’t worry. You can still participate by using an online scheduler like Later or Hootsuite to schedule your Twitter responses ahead of time. Share this event and encourage others to participate. Make it an officewide event, challenge other groups or organizations to see how many people can participate. The more people who participate, the better our reach. Prepare responses ahead of time. Share this event and encourage others to participate. Make it an office-wide event, challenge other groups or organizations to see how many people can participate. The more people who participate, the better our reach.

Step 2: Find the Chat.

On Twitter, you can either go straight to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce Twitter feed @OkCommerce or use the Twitter search for the hashtag #OkLetsCount. Make sure to refresh your feed throughout the hour to stay up to date with what’s happening.

Step 3: Rules of the Chat.

Here’s how this works. We have 5 questions for you. We’ll ask (Q1, Q2, Q3…) and we’d love for you to answer (A1, A2, A3…). We’re providing the questions for you below so that you have plenty of time to prepare your answers in advance. It is a wise idea to write out all your responses (280 characters including hashtags) and find any images that go with it so that when the actual Twitter chat happens, all you have to do is copy and paste your answers. Feel free to respond with multiple answers if you have different answers to share. In between our questions, we will be sharing videos, pictures, fun facts and information to keep you entertained and engaged throughout the Twitter Chat.

Here’s our official schedule of questions:

2:00 – Hello and welcome to our #2020Census Twitter Chat! Who do we have joining us today? #OKLetsCount #FinalSprint #2020Census https://my2020census.gov/

2:10 – Q1: How does #2020Census affect you? #OKLetsCount #FinalSprint #2020Census https://my2020census.gov/

2:20 – Q2: What could happen if all Oklahomans aren’t counted? #OKLetsCount #FinalSprint #2020Census https://my2020census.gov/

2:30 – Q3: Why do we need census data? How is it used? #OKLetsCount #FinalSprint #2020Census https://my2020census.gov/

2:40 – Q4: In this #FinalSprint, what can you do to spread the word? #OKLetsCount #FinalSprint #2020Census https://my2020census.gov/

2:50 – Q5: Let’s end on a fun one –How will you celebrate when Oklahoma gets a great count? #OKLetsCount #FinalSprint #2020Census https://my2020census.gov/

For example:

Q1: How does #2020Census affect you? #OKLetsCount

A great reply would be:

@OkCommerce – A1: The #2020Census helps my community gets its fair share of $675 billion per year in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other vital programs. #OKLetsCount #FinalSprint #2020Census https://my2020census.gov/

(Insert great picture, emoji, gif or meme here)

Step 4: Follow that Hashtag.

Use the Hashtag #OKLetsCount in all of your responses. This way you are a part of the conversation. Your responses are also easily accessible to anyone else joining the conversation. During this #FinalSprint it’s very important to keep posting the link to the census for anyone who hasn’t taken it. We will be copying #OKLetsCount #FinalSprint #2020Census https://my2020census.gov/ on all of our tweets and as many responses as we can just to drive home the point.

Step 5: Engage.

A Twitter Chat is not just a question and answer session. We want you to chat with other people. We’ve only asked five questions so that you have plenty of time to chat with everyone else participating. This is your chance to like and retweet other user’s responses to your audiences. They’ll do the same for you! When in doubt, a friendly emoji or gif goes a long way!

If you have any other questions or comments about our upcoming twitter chat, feel free to reach out to Susan.Riley@OKCommerce.gov