Hashtags 101: How-To Use Hashtags - Share YOUR #hashtagtip

Corvida Raven

Share your hashtag tips in the comments or on Twitter using “#hashtagtip” and we’ll add the best tips to this post along with a link to your Twitter account!


Hashtags are popular on Twitter now more than ever! With popularity has come numerous questions asking what the heck hashtags are, why they should be used, and how to get started on using them. We’ve been listening to your tweets and present you with a guide to using Twitter hashtags.

Hashtags Defined

You see them in Twitter messages and 1-2 are always trending on Twitter Search. We’re talking about hashtags. Hashtags are created by prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag. You can think of them as bits of context or meta-data for Twitter messages that pertain to a specific topic.

Hashtags (Twitter Fan Wiki) are a useful way of tracking specific conversations on Twitter. However, the uses don’t stop there. You’re probably using hashtags when you tweet about contests, conferences, events, or specific brands and companies. They are also used to grab some of the largest “pulses”, or happenings, on Twitter.  Some people are using hashtags to recommend music today (#musicmonday). Others have used hashtags to express their feelings about Twitter’s recent reply changes (#fixit). 

How-To: Create and Use Hashtags

Making a hashtag is very simple. Previously you would have to follow @hashtags on Twitter. Now, you can simply start tweeting with your hashtag and it will be counted in Twitter Search and quite a few Twitter search and hashtag tools (see below). When creating your own hashtag, pick a creative name, but also make it simple to retweet and understand by making it under 10 characters and choosing a word(s) that are on topic to the information that will surround your hashtag. Chris Messina (@chrismessina), credited with starting hashtags, has a great article on making the most of hashtags.

There are no rules or regulations on how many hashtags you can make or what they can say. In light of this, it’s recommended that you exercise control over how you use hashtags. Some people find hashtags to be irritating for very good reasons.  If you’re using 2-3 of them in 1 twitter message, you could come across as a spammer to your audience. Who wants to see that in their Twitter stream all the time? So, be sure to exercise control and show your audience that you understand how to use hashtags. 

You should be smart about using them not only for your benefit, but also for the benefit of your audience and those that might find the tweets surrounding your hashtag to be valuable. We recommend using a hashtag when you have valuable information to share about a tweetup, conference, or contest that you’re participating in. You can also use hashtags to poll your Twitter community.

Tracking And Using Hashtag Applications 

We recommend making a stop at Hashtags.org to see what hashtags are trending right now. You can also use hashtags.org to see if a hashtag has been used yet. For more Twitter hashtag activity we recommend:

Real-time search dashboards such as Monitter and Twitterfall are great for keeping track of tweets with a particular hashtag. If you’re using a Twitter client that has built-in search functionality, it might be easier to save the hashtag you’re tracking as a saved search. Tools such as Tweetmapper and the Selective Twitter Status app for Facebook creatively use hashtags to indicated a particular action you’d like to initiate. 

Recommended HashTags To Track

Share your hashtag tips in the comments or on Twitter using “#hashtagtip” and we’ll add the best tips to this post along with a link to your Twitter account!

  • How are YOU using Hashtags?
  • What shouldn’t they be used for?
  • What hashtags have you created?
  • Which hashtags do you use a lot?

Have any tips or stories you’d like to have us feature? Email us at: corvida (a t)mrtweet.com . Be sure to follow @MrTweet for more great Twitter content and our Blog Editor Corvida Raven (@corvida) for more awesomesauce technology insights! 

Category: Uncategorized, Unique Insights | Tags:

  • rogerblankenbeckler
    Why doesn't my posting appear in trending topics or Reat Time Results? I use the # but my postings never appear.
  • Check out the Twitter Chat List. Over 50 hashtag communities that get together at specific times to discuss a particular topic. http://bit.ly/oXBBu

    Tweet the link so that all the chats can grow
  • I started using #e-prime. Hashtags.org tracks it OK but Twitter and Tweetdeck highlight only the #e and ignore the hyphen. Should hashtags contain alpha characters only?
  • DaveTheCompGuy
    I use TweetDeck and keep an active search column running for both 'Edmonton' and '#yeg' - our airport code, widely used here for this city. Local news people and the main community here uses #yeg. I occasionally get some off-topic stuff from the Edmonton's that are in the UK and KY, but not often.
  • thefranshea
    Help! I have tried including a hashtag address in my post but it doesn't post as a link. It just posts as regular text. What should I do to get it to post as a link?

    I haven't seen this written about anywhere.

    I am not talking about a hashtag I created. Simply one I want to acknowledge in my post.

    Can you help?
  • Hashtags are a community driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets. They are just like tags you add on your blog.
  • DaveTheCompGuy
    Hashtags aren't links. They're more like keywords, so people can search for them. You'd post a link by using a URL shortening service (like bit.ly) to add a short URL.
  • Having a blast with hashtags lately, for:

    -Keeping a running journal with #lisaruns

    -Starting a new #green hashtag for #greenDIY projects

    -Participating in the UK's Channel 4 live surgery programme, with a Twitter Q&A hashtagged as #slive

    Good tips about being careful not to overuse hashtags. They are addictive, and it can be tempting to # everything.

    @lisadevaney
  • Here's a link on how to get an effective # event started on Twitter used by @linkedinexpert, @marismith and @freerangemom http://linkedintobusiness.com/?p=395
  • genevangelist
    Great post, Corvida!

    While there are many great posts like this about why hashtags are a great way of tracking trending topics, there are some that say in the wholeness of it all, they do absolutely nothing for search. Here is a great article with that point in mind. http://bit.ly/fiSvh

    I personally think the best use of hashtags is StockTwits - http://www.stocktwits.com They came up with the idea for using " $$ " at the end of the tweet to stream on the StockTwits community , or use $ in front of the stock ticker symbol you are talking about such as $AAPL for Apple and $GOOG for Google and so on when talking about a trade. StockTwits is by far the most progressive community using such a streamlined search. They even have a Firefox plugin which is pretty awesome that really makes things interesting. I would highly recommend reading more on how they do it here and just checking out how they do it. http://stocktwits.com/help

    You know you have a great app when traders join Twitter JUST to use StockTwits!
  • I love #hashtags! I use them whenever I can. I created the #suckit hashtag for @QueenOfSpain a long time ago since she used that term so much and we found it amusing. Now I see lot's of people using it. (I giggle to myself whenever I see others using it.) It's taken on a life of its own now. It's not a nice term, but sometimes when you're frustrated or really wanting to alert people to a bad experience with a company, product, service, etc. you think others should avoid, twitter can serve as a steam vent for those times and #suckit is one of those terms that helps you vent.

    You don't want to end up on the #suckit list – it's kind of like being on Mr. Blackwell's Worst Dressed list. That's just one example.

    My favorite way to use hashtags is to keep a micro-baby journal about my son, #LD. Most of my closer twitter friends know I'm talking about my son and will also refer to him in an @ as #LD. He's not just LD anymore, he's #LD. It's his nickname now: "pound-L-D."

    Now, #LD of course is not a unique hashtag but I'm using it for my personal journal so it doesn't matter. I subscribe to my own twitter RSS feed using Mail.app and NetNewsWire and that way I can archive all of my tweets and #LD makes for a unique search term in a Spotlight query. At any time I can search for #LD using NetNewsWire or Spotlight and I can find a list of all the tweets that have #LD in them which basically gives me a time-stamped little baby journal of all things relating to my little boy.

    With another one on the way, I'm working on thinking of a tag for the new baby. During my pregnancy sometimes I tweet things about crazy food I crave so that's tagged #cravings. Again, these tags are searchable so I can query them later and compile a journal of them all. It doesn't matter who else may be using the same hashtag because they won't show up in my RSS feed that I'm using to compile my thoughts.

    Anyhow, this is a fun topic. Thanks for posting it. I can understand how people might be annoyed by hashtags, but it's like anything else — twitter is a personal tool and you use it how you see fit. If someone doesn't like the way you use the tool, well, they can just #suckit. ;)
  • Oh Corvida - I probably make you cringe with all my useless hashtags haha. Thanks for this post!
  • SilverPolisher
    Hi,
    Working today at going to a lecture to celebrate 800 years of Cambridge University. I can read the tweets from the lecturer as he prepares his lecture; weather in his garden, type of red wine etc. I want to know the hashtag that I should use to join the conversation about this lecture. If I make up my own hashtag, and there is already one in use, I am seen as low life, but I cannot find one after some searching.

    What is the etiquette her? I think the lecturer should invent the hashtag for their lecture as part of the publicity for the event. Then we could all meet our friends for a coffee before or for a drink afterwards.

    Does this make sense?
  • I notice that the article you linked to "Why I Unfollow People Who Use Hashtags On Twitter" is 15 months old. Twitter has changed dramatically in that time and hashtags are, as you say, much more prevalent and more widely understood now than they were then.

    Hashtags can be great for instantly identifying people, things, or situations. They are so useful that they've crept into text messages and even spoken conversation!

    They can be a bit encoded, though. #farmcat, #jollyoldfarmer and #coopgirl only mean something to me and a few other people.

    Hashtags can alternatively be very encompassing and unspecific, such as my friend who recently tweeted that they were going for a #walk!
  • Aimee though it's 15 months old it's still relevant as I hear it time and time again for people that don't like hashtags.

    I find them beneficial and welcome using them, they introduce me into new movements and events.
  • FrankleeMiDeer
    For Memorial Day and every day: #BringOurChildrenHome
  • DaveTheCompGuy
    A great thought, but an awfully long tag when you have a 140 character limit.
  • Yes still a bit confused by this hashtag - going to try it out. Thanks for the tweet
  • icantstandit
    Hashtags are irritating...With only 140 characters, they just take up space...I don't use them.
  • We understand. Hashtags aren't for everyone. People using Twitter for personal reasons may have no need to use hashtags.
  • #Tag your profile...I mean if you're a musician, have #musician somewhere in your profile....likewise for #Carpenter, #Marketer, #schmuck, what ever...also your Location #ipswichUK #MurrellsInletSC....there is an application being built to search these tags in your profile to use as references for queries....Like Find #Carpenter in #ipswichUK...so you can find a carpenter if you need one.....or #SWM or#SWF if you want a date....or #Marketer if you are looking for people in marketing to follow on twitter #Musician to collaborate with or to play at your sweet sixteen party.....Craig's List, dating network, twitter find and follow all rolled into one....
  • This is a prime example of how you SHOULDN'T use hashtags!
  • For those of us who are new to twitter, would you care to explain why this is a bad idea? I'm a psychologist familiar with the research on happiness (much of it within the new "positive psychology" area founded by a former APA president, Martin Seligman), and I was thinking to use my twitter account mainly to offer good quotations about happiness and interesting tidbits from positive psychology. (I also write a blog.) If people interested in positive psychology or happiness can't find me in a search without the hashtags in my profile bio, but could find me with them there, why shouldn't I use them? I've noticed people generally don't do this, but I don't know why. Is it considered spamming? Can they find me without it? Am I expected to use the hashtag only in tweets? It doesn't seem appropriate to use a hashtag behind the word "happiness" in every single quotation about happiness. None of these are rhetorical questions. Like I said, I'm new. - @DrSteveWright
  • jthane
    Sean: Using your example, well, you could have a tweet that reads "taking out the recycling, putting in solar panels, what a busy day"

    Now that would be a very GREEN tweet, but someone searching for green tweets might not ever seen this. By adding #green (or whatever) at the end, you're designating the tweet as belonging to that topic, regardless of what the text in the tweet itself is.

    At least that's my take on it.
  • Sean
    Why are hash tags needed is something is just one word? I understand the need for #womentofollow but what's the difference between green and #green?
  • The hashtag means the tweet your reading is related to an event or movement that's occuring. Versus a random tweet that's passively mentioning green. The hashtag makes a visual relation.
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