Another common Twitter question I get is what are hashtags (#) and how to use them.

Hashtags are merely a method to group tweets around a particular topic. In the Washington DC metro area, last January, tweets around the big snowstorm used the hastag #snowpocalypse. So if you wanted information about the storm, you could search on that tag. By the way, I just did a search, and it’s still in use. People are contrasting it to our current heatwave. So some hashtags do take on a life of their own.

I see people using it to combine tweets about a particular event. Right now lots of folks are tweeting about #dcweek, a 10 day festival in DC focused on technology, innovation and all things digital in our nation’s capital. One of my favorite networking events is #ngagedc, and I can search on that tag to see who will be attending the next event.

Something that confuses new Twitter users is that hashtags show up in your stream in blue, like a link, but clicking on a tag doesn’t take you to a webpage. It takes you to a search on that tag. I’ve had clients come to me almost in a panic because they expected to go to a site, and they all thought something was wrong with their browser. Nope, that’s supposed to happen.

I know several people who organize regular “meetings” on Twitter around a particular hashtag. To “join” the meeting, you search for the tag and see what others’ are saying. Participate in the conversation by tweeting using that tag.

Twitter does have some limitations by not having an actual “chat” or discussion feature. Hashtags are an excellent way to get around this.

Anyone have a favorite hashtag to share?

Tags: social media

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 8:16 am and is filed under social media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.