#hashtag

Let’s talk about hashtags. AKA the most improperly used form of communication in social media. Heaven knows I do not have perfect etiquette (in social media, life, table manners, anything…), but the frequency at which I have seen hashtags being misused has begun to make my temples throb. If you’re unclear on what a hashtag is then you probably aren’t misusing them and I thank you for that, but I will still explain for those who are: A hashtag is the pound or number sign that people use before a statement in social media (example: #goutes #obama2012 #BearLake). Fun fact, hashtags have an actual purpose!! The purpose of a hashtag is to connect various tweets (and now instagrams) with other tweets (and now instagrams) of the same topic. Its not this fun way for you to make a random, lengthy remark on the post of your fetus or your lunch on instagram. If you wanted to make that extra remark, a simple period before starting a new sentence would be more appropriate. Hashtags started as a twitter thing, although they also work on instagram. I would venture to assume that they will also eventually work for Facebook as well, but for now they do not so just stop using them there, mkay?

I will now provide the class with some samples to show the appropriate use of hashtags:

Example 1:

I post a humerous tweet about my new lifestyle choice (which I will obviously talk your ear off about if you’re interested…or if you encounter me in the office kitchen and ask why I am eating “rice” made from cauliflower):

 

See that #paleo hashtag and how it is blue? I can now click on that hashtag to see other things people are posting about the paleo diet. Neat, huh?

Example 2:

I post a humerous tweet about how irritated I am over the misuse of hashtags, giving it a ridiculously long and unimportant hashtag:

See how the hashtag is still blue? I can now click on it and…wait, what?! You mean no one else posted a hashtag about the stupid and unimportant thing I hashtagged?? How could that be?!

Alright everyone, lets take today’s lesson and go back to our social media applications and stop looking stupid by posting things like #IalmostcriedwhenIsawmybabyonthesonogram or #IlovethissandwichsomuchIwouldmarryitandhavebabieswithitandposttheirsonogramsoninstagram