#HASHTAG

August 18 2015,

Written by Bill Lawson

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Social Media, what do you know about it? If you're a teen then, as always, you know everything. However, when you're a bit older and have a few more grey hairs, tweets are bird noises, and this # was the "number sign."

What the heck is #HASHTAG and when do you use it? For this quest, I went to the most reliable source I knew, #My3Girls, #MyDaughters, #DaddyCanYouHelp, #DaddysBabies all in their 20's. Their response was this "Daaaaad, think of it like a 'Giant Scrapbook, or Photo Album'" which made me laugh because I'm not sure my girls have even seen a photo album or scrapbook.

Hashtag

Once you pick a #Hashtag like #NYC anybody and everybody that uses #NYC will see your post. After about an hour of intense #Twitter101 and seeing all their tweets I'm starting to understand the concept.

First, they get me set up on Twitter, @BLawson926 and that's it, twenty minutes later I'm tweeting and following.

Then my daughters go on to tell me about "Following" others, so I get to see what others are tweeting. #YourGettingItNOW!

Before I knew it, I'm following 24 Twitterers and made 7 tweets and even have 1 person following me (and it's not even my daughters, it's a co-worker)!

Anyway on to what I have learned...#IThinkIveGotThis

Why use hashtags: Hashtags are keywords to promote your post, which can reach many others you normally wouldn't reach (promotion, distribution, participate in discussions).

Hashtags 101: Keep Hashtag short, No spaces or special characters in Hashtags, make sure there is a blank space before your #Hashtag, and don't use numbers only.

Types of hashtags: Your brand or tagline can be your hashtag as in #Tarantin, #LpEquipment, #RegoRegulators, #PropaneNews (Many TV shows, events now have hashtags popping up).

Social Media Works with Hashtags: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+ and many more.

Choose the Best Hashtag: Think of it like a "Search" tool. If Tarantin was having Bruce Springsteen play a concert here I could use #BornToRun, #TheBoss, #JerseyGirl. Anything that would reference him or anything about him.

Being on Twitter gave me a better understanding of how to use this whole #Hashtag4life. The point is the best way to learn the ins and outs of Twitter, and how to use #Hashtags, is to jump in and start doing it. Your business depends upon it.