How to Use Hashtags Without Looking Like a Total Beginner
If you’ve been tweeting for awhile, you’ve probably noticed hashtags, a word or combination of words with the pound sign (#) in front of it. But what do they mean? How do they work? Most importantly, how can you use them without looking like a complete Twitter newbie?
Here’s the lowdown on using Hashtags effectively in your tweets.
A Quick Overview of What Hashtags Are
Hashtags are simply a way to organize Twitter conversations. For example, many people use a hashtag to identify what’s going on at a conference. For instance, #bwe10 stands for Blog World Expo 2010.
Hashtags can also be used in an emergency – which is where the use of hashtags originated. One Twitter user wanted to keep everyone updated about the 2007 #sandiegofire, and grouped all of his tweets under that hashtag.
Hashtags can also be used for everyday things like #blogging, or #nature. If you’re sharing something of interest on Twitter, by all means, include a hashtag or two (but anymore is overkill) to make sure your tweet gets read by people who are searching for information under various hashtags.
Grab a Hashtag Dictionary
Creating your own hashtag is easy to do and is just a matter of staking your claim on an abbreviation, word or phrase. But before you do that, it’s a good idea to check www.tagdef.com for different tag definitions.
One hashtag can have several meanings. For instance, #tt can stand for everything from Trending Topics, to Travel Tuesday to Twitter Takeover. You can see the latest trends and related hashtags when you login to Twitter. Currently, there’s an ongoing movement for #octoberwish, where you tweet something you’d like to improve about yourself this coming month.
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