How to Use Hashtags With Twitter

Two Methods:  Using Hashtags With Tweets  Using Hashtags in Searching and Navigation

You have likely seen #hashtags everywhere these days. Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, and many other social sites use hashtags to create instant connections with other users. When another user uses hashtags to find a particular word, they will see all posts containing that hashtagged word. It's a really handy skill to learn, as social media becomes the primary way we communicate.

> Method 1 of 2: Using Hashtags With Tweets

1. Understand hashtags. 

The universe of  Twitter is vast and can be a little confusing to navigate.  Hashtags are one of the most important and efficient ways of organizing information on Twitter. Anyone can make a hashtag at any time,  simply by typing a phrase of the form “#topic” in a tweet.

• For example, if you were tweeting about reading this article, you might say "Reading #howfind article on using #hashtags with #twitter."  Then, anybody searching for #howfind, #hashtags, or #twitter would see your tweet.
• After a hashtag has been created, other Twitter users can use that hashtag in their own tweets to add to the larger conversation about that topic.  Hashtags can be as general (#howfind) or as specific (#howToUseHashtagsOnTwitter) as desired. They are a completely organic form of organization, created and managed by Twitter users, not Twitter itself.

2. Create your own hashtag. 
 The form for doing this is exactly the same as for including an already existing hashtag.  Simply type a phrase of the form “#topic.” Do not put any spaces in the phrase that you want to turn into a hashtag,  because the hashtag begins with the “#” and ends with the first space. When you click “Tweet”, your new tweet will appear in your list of tweets, and the hashtag you created will appear in blue.  Scroll over it and click on it to be redirected to the page for the hashtag.  If you have really created a brand new hashtag, your tweet should be the only one on the page.  Now, every time someone includes your hashtag in a tweet,  it will be added to the page.



3. Include an existing hashtag in your tweet. 
You can do this simply by typing a phrase of the form “#topic” within your tweet.  After you click “Tweet,” your tweet will appear in your list of tweets with the hashtag in blue type. Scroll over the hashtag and click on it to go to the page for that hashtag.  Your tweet will now appear when other users visit the hashtag page.

• If you wish to use an existing hashtag,  make sure that your spelling is correct and that there are no spaces between the words you wish to include in the hashtag. Capitalization, however, does not matter. Thus “#howfind”, “#Howfind”, and “#HowFind” will all produce the same result.

4. Be polite. 
When using hashtags,  observe hashtag etiquette.  Twitter's best practices suggest you not use more than two hashtags in the tweet,  because this can dilute their usefulness for other users, and make it a royal pain in the eyeballs to read.

• Understand the purposes of different hashtags.  Some are obviously meant to be silly, while others are more serious.  Make sure you observe these differences if you do not want to draw the ire of other Twitter users.
• Only use hashtags that are relevant to the topic you're tweeting about.

> Method 2 of 2: Using Hashtags in Searching and Navigation

1. Navigate Twitter using hashtags. 
Clicking on a particular hashtag (in blue) will send you to the search results page where you will see other tweets that contain that hashtag.
Near the top of the page, you can select “Top”, which shows tweets containing the hashtag that have been retweeted numerous times,  “All”,  which shows all tweets that include the hashtag, and "People you follow" to see only tweets from people you follow who used that particular hashtag.

• You can also get to a search results page by entering the #searchterm in the search field above the list of tweets.

• In the “Trends” sidebar on the left,  you can view the hashtags that are currently the most popular throughout Twitter.  Clicking on one of these will take you to a page of search results for that particular hashtag.

2. Find hashtags that interest you.  As Twitter continues to grow, so does the number of hashtags.  There are many ways to find hashtags related to subjects that you are interested in. Read through the Twitter feeds of people you follow, and click on any hashtags that you find interesting.



3. Look for hashtags in everyday life.  Use of hashtags is a growing trend in advertising that can be highly entertaining, as anybody can—and will—piggyback on the marketing hashtag to say anything they want.  To use one, simply add the hashtag to your tweet, and you will be joined in the conversation.

• Similarly, live events like awards shows or sporting events include hashtags so that watchers can easily participate in live discussion. Your tweet may even appear on the air!

4. Keep your eye online.  You can do an Internet search for “cool Twitter hashtags” or “interesting Twitter hashtags about…”  There are many sites that aggregate and share hashtags, making it easier to for you to find hashtags for subjects that interest you.

• Check out social media apps such as Instagram or Pinterest, too.  Mining those sites for interesting hashtags can lead to great results.

Tips

• Do a quick search to see if your new hashtag is new, or if others have used it. If so, there may be some interesting tweets and people for you to follow.
• If you come across a hashtag that's an acronym that you can't figure out, a quick Google search should give you the answer.

Warnings

• Don't use hashtags on every word. It won't be appreciated by the twitterverse.
• Don't Tweet and Drive.