Hashtags are on the trend, but not everyone knows how to use them. Older generations still refer to # as a number sign or a pound sign. But, today’s media users adequately and effectively use the # as a hashtag to help their post gain popularity. If you aren’t too tech savvy, here are some rules for the hashtag impaired. Remember hashtags aren’t for everyone and aren’t meant to be used if they aren’t used properly.
1. Use a # before a phrase. This ones pretty simple and probably the most obvious but you can never be to safe. (Example: #coloniapride)
2. No spaces. This is something everyone may not know. You never add a space in the hashtag phrase your using of the hashtag will only hashtags everything after the pound sign and before the space. (Example: #ColoniaFootball)
3. Don’t put words, numbers or other symbols before the pound sign add a space in between the two. You don’t want to have your comment right next to your hashtag; it just doesn’t look right. Keep in mind upper case letters will not change the search or the hashtag. Using numbers in the hashtag is okay, but the use of punctuation marks, ampersands, asterisks, or any other symbol will not work.
4. Short and Sweet. Don’t make your hashtag extremely long. Remember a hashtag DOES NOT have spaces in it so it will really difficult to read if its too long.
5. Don’t add too many hashtags in what your posting. You don’t want to overwhelm the person like in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA. You should use short phrases or a short sentence. Generally three hashtags for one post is acceptable.
6. Don’t make your hashtag irrelevant. Never make your hashtags irrelevant to what your posting than it wont make any sense. Also if your hashtaging a photo don’t hashtag what your doing, we can see what your doing. Hashtags can relay tone and humor at times. (Example: Let the weekend begin! #TGIF or I hate when people smoke e-cigarettes indoors. #annoying #rude #whygodwhy)
7. Don’t have hashtags in the middle of your thought, add them at the end. This may not be an unwritten rule that everyone knows. Hashtags belong at the end of your comment/thought NEVER in the middle.
8. Look at others posts for inspiration. If you still don’t know how to use a hashtag at the end of this article go on your media sites and look up some hashtags of your own or search through other peoples profile and see how they use them.
9. Remember you don’t need a hashtag in everything you post. So if you want lots of other people to see your posts then use a hashtag that is common or relatable.
10. The @ and the # are two different symbols used for very different things. For example, using @ before a person’s Twitter handle will tweet them directly. The purpose of a hashtag is to organize posts by topic thus making the post easier to search and find.
Hashtags can be used on Facebook, Twitter, Instgram, Vine, Google+, Pintrest and Tumblr.
Hashtags aren’t something you need to have in posts. Not everybody understands that leading some people to overuse them. Others don’t even know how to use them, like the older generation who are still exploring the technology. When all else fails, if you don’t know how to use something you don’t use it at all.
