How to properly use hashtags on Twitter

They have become a commonly recognized item and their use has transcended Twitter. Hashtags can be found daily in television programs and all kinds of commercials, many users still find it difficult to use hashtags correctly on the platform. In Spanish, the word would be translated as “tag” and is used to bring order to the large amount of content generated on Twitter, as if categorized.

Out of curiosity, it should be mentioned that the hashtag is a feature that was not designed by the creators of Twitter, but rather by the users themselves who started using it spontaneously. Concretely, it was a “tweeter”, Chris Messina, who was the first to include the pound sign (#) in front of a name and thus created, in August 2007, the first hashtag in history: #barcamp.

His goal was to form a sort of “group” within Twitter to share messages with other attendees about the conference he attended. Unknowingly, he used the pound symbol for a new purpose, and hashtags quickly became a widely used tool on the platform.

According to data from Twitter, more than 125 million hashtags are created every day. By converting a word into a hashtag, users can access a list of other tweets that also include it by clicking on it. You will thus be able to discover other messages dealing with the same theme.

Its use cannot be taken lightly, neither on Twitter nor on other platforms like Instagram. Using a hashtag incorrectly can confuse users and scatter the conversation in a way that is not beneficial to the brand. When and how should hashtags be included in posts?

There may be situations where it is better not to use them, but their use is strongly recommended, for example when organizing events and conferences. Users are already demanding the use of an official hashtag also to join causes and claims, to encourage participation in a contest…

Tips for using hashtags on Twitter

-Contextualize. A hashtag should be included whenever you want to frame content within a theme. As already mentioned, this helps those who read the tweet and helps other people interested in the subject to find it, which will give more visibility to the posts.

-Use popular hashtags. Before creating their own hashtag, the community manager should search Twitter to see if users are already using one on that particular topic. This will serve to frame the message within an existing conversation and not be isolated.

-Create your own hashtags. This will be necessary if the company is organizing an event or is going to give a survey presentation, for example, or if it wants to do a specific promotion. If you choose the right tag, other users will start using it.

– Be brief. Hashtags are composed of characters that are counted in the 280 available when sending each message, so conciseness and brevity are recommended. Moreover, the more direct it is, the easier it will be to memorize by users.

– Use case sensitive. When using a hashtag consisting of two or more words, it’s best to capitalize the first letter of each word. This makes it easier to identify, read and remember users.

-Use of accents. On Twitter, hashtags can carry a tilde and the content is even shown to those who search for this tag without adding the graphic emphasis. For this reason, its use is recommended to respect the general rules of accentuation.

-IDENTIFIER. Those that are easily recognizable and make logical sense should be used. If it’s a tag that no one knows what it means (like #CDTGRK), that won’t help.

-Do not abuse. #Should #not #convert #every #word #into #a #hashtag. That does not make sense. Labels should only be used when necessary and can add value. As a general rule, you should include only one hashtag, or at most two, in the same tweet. If several are placed in the same message, it can confuse the user or tire him.

-Do not use misleading hashtags. Using the most popular tags and trending topics on Twitter at any given time is justified if they are related to brand activity or the message you want to share. A business can join the trending conversation as long as it does so in a natural way, providing content or value, but without a commercial purpose.

However, some companies try to use trending hashtags on one of their posts, just to get more people searching for that term to come to their post. This can only have negative consequences, anger some users and even lead to someone reporting the account as spam.