By now, we hope you’ve had a chance to read our post on hashtags for social entrepreneurs.

If you’re wondering if there’s a way to make deeper connections on Twitter, then you should join a Twitter chat.

A Twitter chat, or alternately a tweet chat, is exactly what it sounds like – a conversation that happens on Twitter. Twitter chats occur at a scheduled time and conversation on a select subject is identified by the use of a chosen hashtag. Chat moderators typically select a topic or feature a guest speaker knowledgable about the Twitter chat subject. Chat participants can ask questions of one another, chat moderators, or expert guests.

For social entrepreneurs, participating in Twitter chats is a great way to build relationships with others in the social enterprise space in real time. Twitter chats make it possible to connect with people you might not ordinarily have chance to meet in person. And if you’re lucky, you can lay the foundations for relationships you can later take offline.

To help you jump into the world of Twitter chats, the following are some chats you might want to add to your calendar:

• #socentchat (first Wednesday of the month, 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT) By far the most popular Twitter chat for anyone in the social enterprise space, this chat covers a lot of ground. Past chats have covered the role of technology, global media access, sustainability, and more.

• #leanimpact (Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT) Hosted by Lean Impact, this chat focuses on lean startup practices and tips for social entrepreneurs.

• #startinggood (Wednesdays, 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT) Hosted by StartSomeGood, this Twitter chat covers strategies social enterprises and nonprofits can use for successful crowdfunding.

• #givchat (Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT) Started and hosted by Givology, the chat is primarly social entrepreneurs and nonprofits who are focused on education.

Participating in Twitter chats can be overwhelming at first. It often helps to use a Twitter client that will aggregate chat tweets and automatically append the chat hashtag to your tweets. Twitter chat clients worth using include TweetChat, Twubs, and Tchat.io.

And if you have an idea for Twitter chat you think would serve the social enterprise community, here are the steps to get your Twitter chat off the ground.