Twitter is simple stuff. It's powerful stuff, but it's not complicated. Just tell people what you're doing or thinking, keep them informed and a part of your life and your business, be you, and you should find that you're building both a following and a community.
Sure, there are rules and etiquette to govern behavior. That's true of any social environment. And it's also true that acting in a certain way -- telling good stories, being positive, having fun - will make you more popular at a party than being dull and boring. Those things aren't difficult and they certainly aren't technical.
But Twitter does have one technical aspect, and it's one that can confuse people. Hashtags are unique to Twitter - and they're very useful too.
A hashtag is the Twitter community's way of referencing a topic, a happening, a person or anything else that would be commonly referenced. It is indicated by a # (pound sign) followed by the keyword.
For example, if you were referencing my work in your tweet, you might include the hashtag #joelcomm. If you weren't able to attend Affiliate Summit but wanted to keep up with the goings-on at the conference, you would search for the hashtag #affsum. Since most of the attendees use that hashtag in their tweets, you'd be able to keep up easily with one simple search.
Useful stuff, huh?
Clicking a hashtag that appears in someone else's tweet will let you see what else is being said about the same subject. Entering a hashtag into the Twitter's search engine will churn up all the tweets that carry that term.
Adding a hashtag to your own tweet will make sure that you turn up in search results for that term too. That's a very simple way to make sure that your tweets are seen by more than your immediate followers. The hashtag has to be relevant, of course, but it also has to be one that's being used. While you can have fun creating ironic hashtags, you won't pick up any new followers by adding a hashtag that no one's going to look for.
Hashtags are at their most powerful though when they're used in live chats. Tell your followers that you'll be taking questions about a topic related to your field at a certain time. Point out that anyone can join in the discussion by simply adding a certain hashtag to the tweet and your followers stop being followers. They become members of a real-time chat taking place with you and among themselves.
They make a giant step from being a list of followers to being a community of people with a common experience.
When a business can do that with its market, it builds a unique connection with them. Hashtags on Twitter can connect you to your buyers.
Hashtags are very useful, indeed.
A friend of mine even set up a web site where you can look up a hashtag to see if one exists, if you wonder what one is, etc. You can even add your hashtag and definition if you want.
http://www.wthashtag.com/
Ive used it myself more than a few times.
With hashtags, you can even group your tweets, flickr feeds and more from conferences. Definitely handy.
Thank you Joel. I was trying to figure out how to use twitter to be more effective for my business and to reach more people. The notion of hash tags will help me do some research to see what others in my niche are doing and to find out what others need.
Thanks Joel, you helped me to understand hashtags in a new and useful way.
Joel, I enjoyed your session in Palm Springs at Never Work Again. This post has clarified a few things and I'll start using hashtags in a more effective manner. Thanks.
I did not know that about using hashtags in a live chat. I need to spend more time using hashtags.
I am still learning the ropes when it comes to Twitter, hashtags and all. It's a great resource. Thank you, Joel, for helping to educate people like me.
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