To use a #hashtag or not to use a hashtag

Hashtags can be extremely useful in navigating the Twitterverse. By putting # before a word, phrase or acronym, you help to identify that your tweet belongs to a conversation on or related to a specific topic. For example, when I started on Twitter I wanted to follow other users who were interested in Kitchener so I set up a search that showed me all references to “Kitchener.” I learned that the Kitchener stitch was a frequent topic in the knitting community and that somewhere in the world there existed a Kitchener Road that people liked to talk about. But by using #Kitchener and using it in a search, I have been able to engage in a discussion with others who live in my city.

Many hashtags are more cryptic acronyms that don’t mean much to people outside of a specific group. For example, when tweeting from the IABC World Conference in Toronto I used #IABC1o which I’m sure confused some of my followers. On the other hand, I was able to enrich my conference experience by using it and searching for others live tweeting the sessions.

Another benefit of hashtags is that they make it easier to find what people are saying on a topic or organization of interest that may get lost in the quantity of tweets of the people you follow. For example, I want to make sure that I see all tweets related to Social Media Breakfast: Waterloo Region so I regularly look at the search results for #smbWR.

Finding and creating hashtags

There are hashtag directories out there such as this list of 40 hashtags for social good but you are not restricted to using existing ones. You can make your own. If you’re not sure if it is already in use it might be best to check to see if it is commonly used for another purpose so that conversations on different topics are not mixed together. A simple Twitter search will let you figure that out quickly.

Personally, I prefer to find my hashtags using a more organic method. In other words, I find them naturally through their use by others that I follow.

Include hashtags inside your content

My biggest piece of advice is to use hashtags efficiently. I always try to include my hashtags in the “body” of my tweet rather than as a tag after the content whenever it makes sense to do so. When you’re limited to 140 characters (or less if you’re looking to be retweeted), don’t waste precious characters with a tweet like this: “The City of Kitchener has a great new social media strategy. #Kitchener” and instead tweet “The City of #Kitchener has a great new social media strategy.” Of course, this must be done more carefully when using a more cryptic hashtag.

Hashtags are not a must

I find when people get their heads around the use of hashtags that they then think that every tweet requires one. That’s far from being true.

I frequently send tweets without adding a hashtag. My audience for those tweets are my followers. I am not trying to join a wider conversation. In many cases, I’m happy sharing my thoughts with people who value what I have to say. On my personal account where most of my followers are from the Kitchener area, I don’t always feel the need to put a geographic hashtag on because I know that’s where they already are.

So in conclusion, use hashtags but use them efficiently and only when you are trying to join a wider conversation or bring them to the attention of people following a specific topic or organization.