Twitter can be an invaluable resource. From chatting with friends to connecting with new people, this social network provides a way to instantaneously share information. But the sheer volume of conversations and links can be overwhelming, and many people find it difficult to navigate.
So we were pleased to learn about a Twitter feature designed to address this problem. Twitter users can use hashtags to group topics, events, communities, industries, locations or any number of other categories, thus creating organized, uninterrupted conversation chains that are easy to follow and find. For example, by searching for “#publicrelations” in Twitter Search, you can find all tweets that people sent with that hashtag. To insert your comments into the conversation, simply end your tweet with the appropriate hashtag: “Peter Shankman’s HARO is a great PR tool #publicrelations”.
Hashtags can also be used for industry conferences, such as #sxsw for South by Southwest in March, an annual music festival in Texas.
In her blog post on Twitter hashtags, Heidi Sullivan notes that while anyone can create a hashtag, as a best practice they should do some research to make sure a hashtag doesn’t already exist for their community or topic. Heidi recommends searching the Twitter Fan Wiki/Hashtags page for an up-to-date list.
Have you found Twitter hashtags helpful? We would love to hear your experiences or tips to get the most from Twitter.