What are Hashtags (#)?
After reading and researching more about the use of Hashtags and their relevance to the Twitter experience, I have to say I have mixed feelings about them. The Hashtag (#) was developed during the 2007 San Diego forest fires as a way for Tweeter's to search and locate real-time updates related to this specific event.
A Hashtag (#) is placed before a subject to allow for a more successful search on Twitter. The intent of a Hashtag is to allow people to find a particular topic. One recognized Hashtag in the Twittersphere is #followfriday. If you are looking for new followers, search for #followfriday and the Tweets related to this topic will show up. The latest popular Hashtag is #musicmonday where people Tweet about the music they are listening to on Mondays.
Benefits of Hashtags for Business & Community
If you are building a local community around a specific topic that is important to you, the use of a Hashtag will be of benefit. If you are a local business that provides life insurance, for example, you could place a Hashtag in front of the subject of Life Insurance when you Tweet about it. If someone is looking for life insurance using Twitter, your Tweets may come up and they may find your service.
Finding Popular Hashtags
Twitter has recently updated their landing page to include Popular Topics. There you will see topics with and without hashtags. Another resource for finding the most popular Hashtags in real-time is hashtags.org. For more information about hashtags and to track the most popular subjects in real-time, go to http://www.hashtags.org.
To Hashtag or Not?
The debate will continue as to whether or not Hashtags will survive. My guess is that as Twitter continues to develop real-time search, Hashtags will not be necessary to find what you are looking for. If you use Hashtags, don’t overdo it. One or two per Tweet is probably the maximum, but make sure the Hashtag follows a relevant subject, and not just random words.
Upcoming
Next week we will review geographic search and how to utilize this feature on Twitter in order to find new prospects and to get connected with people within your geographic region. Until then, Happy Tweeting! Please follow us at http://www.twitter.com/miraretail