Are you a Serial Website Hashtag User? (Part 1)
When on a website do you use #hashtags without knowing what it really means?
Or do you find yourself using #hashtags on Facebook?
Or maybe #Your #post #reads #like #there #is #a #hashtag #on #every #word?
If ‘YES” is the answer to any of these questions, then read on as this article is written for you.
Today hashtags (not hash browns) are a part of our everyday language on social media networks. You can easily find them used on Twitter, Instgram, Google+, Pinterest and a number of other websites. Hashtags are also commonly used across other websites, even if they not effective.
The definition of a ‘hashtag’ is a word or phase that has a prefix of the ‘#’ symbol in front of it. The use of a hashtag emphasis’s the word or phase that it sits in front of, or is connected to.
There are alot users that simply don’t understand the use of a hashtag, and don’t use it properly (if at all) or use them because it seems funny #to #talk #like #this.
It’s obvious to many users (except for those still using them) that hashtags don’t work on Facebook (Yet! According to the Wall Street Journal). They just annoy people trying to read your status, and it’s an easy way to lose your fans and upset followers.
UPDATE: On Wednesday 12th June 2013, Facebook annouced the roll out of hashtags.
Why should you use hashtags?
A hashtag emphasis’s the word or phase it is used with, it makes the word stand out from the crowd (all the other tweets).
When you use a hashtag it groups the word or phase together by creating a hyperlink, so you can search all the posts using that word or phase on the website. This allows you to see all the conversations that are occurring about a particular topic or issue.
This feature allows other people to join and follow a discussion easily, and it allows collaboration between you and your audience.
Hastags allow you (and your audience) to promote a particular brand, business, product or service by using the hashtags and creating a trend. If your fans use a hashtag to “check-in” at your business or event, give a review, or track competitions, this also allows other people to follow and track the event through the conversation.
You don’t have to use a hashtag every post or on every website, use your discretion on when it is relevant. There are more and more uses popping up everyday. In fact you can actually create your own.
Stay tuned for Part 2 and what you should NOT do with hashtags.