Before I get to confessing, there may be some of you who do not know what a hashtag is yet or would like a formal definition. Per the Oxford Dictionary, a #hashtag is:
A word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media sites such as Twitter to identify messages on a specific topic:
I recently had someone make a comment to me about my use or perhaps their perception of my overuse of #hashtags. It went a little something like this:
“Hey, aren’t you PegCityLovely?”
“Why, yes, yes I am!”
“You love hashtags eh?”
“Um…yea, I suppose I do. Nice to meet you fellow Canuck?!?”
Listen, I agree, I’m a bit of a #hashtag fanatic, but I do it for a couple of good reasons:
- Hashtags arefreakin fun!
- I love dreaming up my own hashtags, getting all creative and whatnot. I love seeing the traction I get from using them, especially if they are humourous. One of my latest hashtags? #GByePaunch – it was created (and is in use on my Instagram) to log my journey of saying goodbye to my paunch, aka muffin top, aka #ExtraSkinAfterHavingBabies belly. (See what I did there?)
- Hashtags are great for recognition.
- How would the person I mentioned above know who I was if they hadn’t believed I used hashtags too much? I love when someone “finds” me or connects with me or finds information because of a hashtag I’ve used in a tweet/instagram/blog post title. It is also pretty awesome if that someone is a brand or company I’d love to work with. Win, win situation, no?
- Ever been to a Twitter Party or Twitter Chat? Hashtags make them happen and help you to engage and participate!
- I have won some pretty amazing prizes just from tuning in to Twitter and following a specific hashtag for an hour. You’d be amazed at the great conversations and friendships that can come out of those Twitter Parties/Chats.
I do agree there should be some #HashtagEtiquette such as:
- Keeping your hashtags related to your topic/post
- Ensuring your hashtags aren’t ridiculously long
- Hashtagging the proper words in your post/tweet (not every other word or every word)
I still say to each their own! Have fun with it, because I sure am!
It is great to be recognized for and from my online work whether it is from friends, coworkers, family, brands, companies, PR agencies, other bloggers, or anyone else for that matter. I appreciate constructive feedback, really I do.
However; I also like to remind those folks who give the feedback that I don’t report to them, and at the end of the day, the “strategy” or the methods that I utilize in the online realm are #MyChoice. (See what I did there again?)
So I say go forth and hashtag away! I’ll be watchin!
#SincerelyYours
Natalie 🙂
Maybe I should try hashtags more often.
I still am trying to figure out the whole hashtag thing – starting to get used to them doing the twitter parties! I say if it works hashtag away!
I’m still quite new to hashtags so I don’t use them all the time, but I’m sure I know of one other person who is totally worse than you are, she hashtags everything!!