The Social Media Guide
Twitter Hashtags
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What are hashtags?
Hashtags are a way for Twitter users to group tweets associated with a specific topic.
Hashtags bring some order to a user’s published updates and make it easier to follow a topic of
interest.
While you can use Twitter’s search function to find other people and messages, the hashtag allows
users to sort topics into useful categories to revisit later.
If you have spent any time on Twitter you have probably seen a hashtag before. They are a “#”
symbol.
hashtags.org’s official description of them are,
Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to your
tweets. They’re like tags on Flickr, only added inline to your post. You create a hashtag simply by
prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag
How to use Hashtags:
To create a hashtag simply add a hash symbol (#) to the front of an appropriate keyword as you
write your Twitter update,
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The Social Media Guide
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By hashtagging the word golf, this enables better indexing of all conversations relating to that
particular tag.
Using Twitter Search to find Hashtags:
There are two ways to find hashtags.
The first way, is in the search field on your Twitter homepage, enter the search word and add the #
hash symbol in front of it,
The search will return real-time results that have also been hashtagged,
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The second way, is to use Twitter’s advanced search.
In the Words section, there is a field This hashtag.. the advanced search also allows you to specify
dates to narrow your hashtag search results,
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Where can I track hashtags?
hashtags.org is a great place to track hashtags and the current hashtag trends.
Suggestions and tips:
Generally, a hashtag is a great way to increase your Tweet visibility. However they should only be
used if your Tweet adds value to the topic so don’t insert # sign before each word.
Hashtag etiquette is still evolving, so let good social manners be your guide. It is a rare “tweet” that
deserves a hashtag, so tag only those updates that you feel will add significant value to the
conversation. One hashtag is best — two are permissible — but three hashtags seem to be the
absolute maximum, and risk raising the ire of the community. Tag sparingly, and with careful
discretion.
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The Social Media Guide
The Social Media Guide
Using Social Media to guide and help you connect to Social etworks: Twitter, Facebook, Google,
LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube using new media
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The Social Media Guide provides helpful advice and tips on connecting you to others, through the
use of Social Media and Social Networks.
The current explosion in Social Media technologies including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,
YouTube, etc has made it more easier than ever to connect with friends, groups and customers with
similar interests from all around the world.
The downside with these new technologies is that often people experience information overload and
are either scared off or simply get too confused.
The Social Media Guide acts as an authoritative guide on embracing and integrating these new
technologies, by presenting clear and simple solutions to common social media problems.
My aim is to help you connect. You will be able to connect with more people faster and extend your
reach deeper into the social web.
www: http://thesocialmediaguide.com.au
email: matthew@thesocialmediaguide.com.au
twitter: @socialguide
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