One of the most frequently asked questions about a tweet is, "What does this # symbol (aka the hashtag) in front of a word mean like #cupcakes or #BSG?"
The geeky explanation is, "Hashtags in Twitter are a community-driven convention for adding metadata to your tweets. They were originally developed to create groups on Twitter for tracking a topic." {source Read Write Web}
Ok, where's the No Sweat explanation
Not to worry. I too like you can get that deer in headlights look at the sight of words like "metadata." Metaphorically, I like to describe the hashtag # in front of a descriptive word as a way to help to organize and find tweets on specific topics much like how file folders and sticky notes in book pages work.
Because I'm a visual creature, here I have illustrated basically how the hashtag works conceptually on Twitter...
I don't know about you, but looking at pictures always helps me easier understand. {click on image for larger view}
Now, when writing your tweets, you don't have to use the hashtag symbol. There is no hashtag police. Your tweets will still show up in a Twitter search if someone for example did a search for the terms #jeans or jeans.
Benefits of using the #
Right now, the majority of people using the hashtags are the geeky types, early adopters, or anyone who is catching on to the benefits of using the hashtag which include things like:
- Making search easier for you and others to find tweets on specific topics
- A way for others to discover your awesomeness and Follow you. For example, I regularly do searches for #foodie or #food because a topic I blog about is healthy eating. When I get my search results, if I like a tweet, I will check out that account and go Follow the person if I like what I see.
- A way for you to start branding yourself as a thought leader, expert, or enthusiast in a particular subject. For example, if you are a personal trainer and use the hashtag #fitness or #workout all the time, anyone who does a search for fitness and exercise will see your tweets and see that you tweet about that topic quite often. Likewise, say you are a Battlestar Galactica fan, if you use the hashtag #BSG or #Galactica, other fans of the show can find you and vice versa.
Me personally, I use the hashtag sparingly but have been using it more and more. I use the hashtag mostly when tweeting about events I'm attending like #w2e which was the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.
The hashtag becomes particularly helpful when you want to get narrow and uber specific.
For example, jeans is a huge category, perhaps you are tweeting about or want to find tweets about a particular brand of jeans like Joe's Jeans, True Religion, or Seven for all Mankind. Hashtags you could use or see are #joesjeans, #truereligion, or #seven. Or perhaps you're interested in a style of jeans like #lowrise, #bootcut, or #cropped.
People will use multiple hashtags in a tweet for those topics that can fall under multiple searches. Here's a sample jeans tweet using multiple hashtags:
Was at Nordstroms today looking for a pair of #boyfriend cut jeans. Tried on #trureligion, #joesjeans, and #seven. Got the Joes.
Not all hashtags make sense to the everyday eye
Many times on Twitter, you'll see hashtags that make sense like #pets, #greysanatomy, or #kayak. But then you'll see hashtags that look like snipets from an eye chart like #w2esm (Web 2.0 Exop social media), #fb (Facebook), or #ftw (For the Win).
Is there a rhyme or reason to creating hashtag names, um, kinda not really which yes makes it confusing for everyone so don't feel bad if you don't get it. Many of us feel lost too. People make stuff up on their own or as a group like say a company or your bowling crew, the team will agree on a hashtag.
Is there a directory that lists all the hashtags that are used on Twitter and what they all mean? Sort of, kinda, but nothing central. At Hashtags.org, you can find a directory of common hashtags including trends and what's popular. There is no explanation of what eye chart looking hashtags mean, so the best way to find out is ask in a tweet.
