No Rule to Hash Tags (Sorta)

Ryan    Uncategorized     Hash Tags, Twitter, www.hashtags.org

So I’ve recently been in conversation with Elliott regarding the use of hash tags (#) in Twitter posts. What are they for? What do they do? Is there a strict syntax or rule to using them? In short, and to answer pretty much all of these questions… NO. When it comes to hash tags, I don’t think any kind of rule has, or really, CAN be made. It’s all up to the way you use them.

Hash tags, or number signs, or Pound signals, or (#) can be traced primarily from IRC channels and later, Jaiku channels. (Got that bit of juice from pbwiki.com) Some in the twittersphere use hash tags for aid in Twitter search, while others, for channels or groups, and yet others use hash tags for just telling people how they feel.

Lonely Twitterer

So what does this mean?

While I’ve been looking at hash tags with Elliott, I’ve been wondering if there really is a syntax or optimum time to use these little buggers in your tweets. Conclusion… not really. Though groups, websites, conventions, and other social objects can dictate what they follow or what they want their users to abide by, there is still no universal rule. And because twitter is so current, I don’t really see that changing. As more and more events unravel, and more people begin to create their social profile, set rules and syntax guidelines are going to be as favorable as Facebook telling you what you are advertising for them.. for free.

During the time it took me to write this little blurb, I also stumbled upon www.HashTags.org. If you want a bare bones search engine of whats happening in real time in the twittershpere, check them out. Not only can you see trends, and hot issues, but you can also get a feel for how people are using hash tags in general through the site’s search feature. It searches the hash tags, as well as the posts, and other bits of juicy content! Give it a go! No rules!!

www.HashTags.org

Cool huh? Yeah I know you might not be able to see it real clearly… I’m sorry. Any ways, and moving on, if there is any kind of piece of advice you should get from reading this little blog entry, it is simply… Use hash tags the way you would use H tags in HTML. Haha. You can construe that sentence however you want depending on how ethical you are at SEO. I suppose in my personal preferences… the more ethical the better. It’s content tagging in it’s most organic form (kinda)… people can choose to use/search/abide by them or not. It’s really your call.

Peace