Are you new to Twitter or have you been using it for a while and just haven’t got used to the idea of what the ‘#’ sign is and its use on the social networking site? They’re hashtags. Almost everyone is using them including Amy Child’s and Katie Price, if they’re using them, you sure can use them and understand how to use them correctly. Some people aren’t.
So what is it?
A hashtag is simply a relevant word or series of characters preceded by the # symbol. Hashtags help categorize messages and can make it easier for other Twitter users to search for tweets. When you search for or click on a hashtag you’ll see all the other tweets that use the same hashtag – or put simply – that hashtag makes you part of a group, topic or conversation thread.
For example, if you search #recruitment, you’ll see conversations by tweeters like this:
When you’re tweeting and using #hashtags, remember it’s a real-time platform and all searches can only go back a week.
When you search for or click on a hashtag you’ll see all other tweets that use the same hashtag. Only others who are interested in the same topic thread will likely be using the same hashtag. Unique words or phrases using the # sign and spelled with no spaces are hashtags. You can search for hashtags in the twitter search bar or through services like Tweetdeck and Hootsuite.
Remember to keep in mind that overusing hashtags will appear spammy to other tweeters. Don’t tweet every time with a hashtag within the tweet or use more than 1-2 hashtags within a tweet.
I came across this great infographic by Social Caffeine explaining what you need to know about the Twitter hashtag in a simple format.
Me, myself & I 