Hashtagging? What gives? Social media is full of them… Such as Twitter! Does this whole # symbol business not make sense to you?
Let’s Discuss What Hashtagging Is and Why People Do It…
Hashtagging is a way to categorize a post, a practice which was originated by Twitter.
Hashtagging marks what’s going on in the world
The # and the word or phrase that follows gets turned into a link. When you click on the hashtag link, Twitter users can see all other tweets made with that same hashtag.
Basically, a hashtag helps categorize your tweet. The hashtag can be a word in a sentence. For example, when President Barack Obama posted a photo of his viewing party of the 2013 Oscars he tweeted:
‘Happy #Oscars Day!’
It is also common for hashtags to stand alone at the end of the sentence. On the same night, Jennifer Lopez tweeted about Barbra Streisand’s song performance:
‘Everybody shhh!!! I’m about to sob!! #Barbra #thequeen #myidol #Oscars’
Notice here that J.Lo has gotten a bit crazy with her choice of hashtags. You’re probably thinking, is #myidol a real hashtag category? The answer is no, not really. Let me explain…
Hashtagging expresses emotion
Hashtags were originally made to identify events, days, and places. To categorize and organize. But after a while people started to have fun with hashtagging, using those # symbols to express emotions.
Typically a hashtag is meant to be one word or two. But often, to express excitement, people will make a hashtag a phrase, made of multiple words, which is a bit unorthodox but it’s okay because it’s #meanttobesilly.
Hashtags that are relevant to what I’m doing right now…
#blogging
#writingablogpost
#internswag
#sohappy
Facebook just recently implemented a Facebook Hashtagging Feature. But people on Facebook have been making statuses with hashtags for awhile now…just for fun. That’s because it helps to express how people are feeling. It’s just evidence that Twitter has made hashtagging a form of self expression, which has transferred over to Facebook.
Television makes it easier to hashtag
Because hashtagging has sort of turned into some crazed fad among everyone… television is getting in on it! You’ll see a discreet yet noticeable hashtag on your television screen during a program. It’s on everything! News, talk shows, reality TV, sitcoms, and even commercials! This is telling viewers that what’s on the screen is the official hashtag for what you’re watching. This also promotes interaction among fans. To get them talking about the program!
Whenever I’m watching a new episode of Glee, on the right of the screen it reads ‘#glee’.
A hashtag on my television screen? Why? Well if I want to tweet about what’s going on in the episode (i.e., comment about a character or scene) then I should use the hashtag #glee. Basically, it’s THE hashtag to use for tweeting about that episode. It’s the hashtag that the network is promoting and it’s the hashtag that they want everyone to use.
Hashtagging For Your Business
Alright, so now that you’re updated on its entertainment purposes, let’s discuss the professional reasons for hashtagging.
Believe it or not it’s now a smart tool for marketing! Find out how by reading Online Marketing: Engage Your Audience. If your business does not have a Twitter yet, then what are you waiting for? Sign up for one here!
Twitter is vital for online marketing, crucial for your business! It connects you with clients and fellow twitter account that share your interests! On MDesignMedia’s twitter account, we like to tweet articles pertaining to what we do and what we care about. We tweet about the latest trends in technology, marketing and business. We also tweet our own blog posts. Our followers on twitter are people like us, passionate about SEO and marketing! We get more favorites and retweets on posts with hashtags. That’s because it’s a fast way of sharing information and getting yourself noticed!
So hashtagging helps people find you. But have you ever considered that hashtags can help YOU find other people?! For MDesignMedia’s twitter @MDesign_Media, we search for hashtags that pertain to what we tweet about, such as #marketing, #SEO, or #webdesign. This takes us to some really awesome people who tweet about the same stuff we do! It gives us new accounts to follow and a new source of information to share with followers!
Here is What Your Business Could Hashtag:
- Your community. Tweet about what’s going on in your area! For example when we tweet about happenings in our Tampa Bay area, we always use the hashtag #TampaBay.
- Subjects. Are you sharing an article pertaining to your area of expertise? Hashtag it! It’s really quite simple. Are you a realtor tweeting about the housing market? Use the hashtag #realty or #realtor…or both!
- Your name. Make yourself an actual trend on twitter! This helps you get noticed. Make a hashtag of your business name in all of your tweets! That way, if anyone clicks or searches the hashtag they’ll see all tweets made about you and by you!
Need help with your Twitter management?
Give us a call at 813.495.7070 or contact us.