What the heck is a Twitter Hashtag?

While getting started on Twitter is fairly easy, there are some advanced strategies that may take new users some time to figure out. One of those is the hashtag (#).

Hashtags are used for following conversations on Twitter. Putting a # in front of a word or code allows everyone to see what’s being said about this topic.

For example, you may have seen #followfriday on Twitter. This particular hashtag is a way for people to tell their followers about interesting people on Twitter.

I’m a big baseball fan. By following #Bluejays or #gojaysgo during a game, I can chat with fellow fans from the comfort of my living room

Hashtags for Live Events

However, hashtags can be used in a variety of other ways. This past year when I was at Podcamp Toronto, the hashtag for that event was #PCTO2010. Before and during the event, people could Tweet about Podcamp and include the hashtag #PCTO2010 so others could follow the discussion.

Before the event even started I learned about the speakers, discover who I knew was attending, and had conversations with other attendees. During the event, people could Tweet about the workshops, voice their thoughts, and in a variety of ways have discussions. Afterwards, the hashtag was great for locating people I had met and wanted to connect with.

Virtual Events

Hashtags are particularly useful for virtual events. I am currently participating in the #blogboost challenge. This virtual event is a month-long support group encouraging bloggers to write posts daily, and share them with the group.

Hashtags are also useful for teleseminars and webinars. If you are hosting a teleseminar, create a simple hashtag for the event. Tell participants about it, and encourage them to tweet throughout the teleseminar. By using the hashtag, participants can see who else is attending this virtual event. If participants tweet interesting content related to your teleseminar it may attract new followers.

How to follow a Hashtag

There are several ways to follow a hashtag. If you use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck, create a column specifically for the hashtag. Anytime someone uses the hashtag (even if you’re not following them) that particular tweet will appear in the column. This is particularly good for ongoing hashtags like #blogboost.

You can also use your web browser to follow hashtags. Sites like http://hashtags.org or http://monitter.com/ will allow you to easily follow hashtags. For following a live event like a teleseminar use http://tweetchat.com. Not only can you follow the live chat, but you can add your thoughts to the discussion with the correct hashtag automatically added.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Do you have an interesting hashtag you follow? Please share it here by leaving a comment.