Research via Twitter: Use Hashtags
What is a hashtag? It’s a word proceeded by a #. Example: #blogs
How do you know what hashtag to use?
You will probably want to use existing hashtags. So you will need to search to find what those are. Using existing hashtags is important if you want others to find your tweets, others who are talking about the same topic.
In some cases, for example, you are running an event, you might want to make up your own. So you need to make sure it is a unique hashtag. You can just search for the hashtag, and if you don’t find it, use it!
Some ways to research existing hashtags:
What I usually do is go to http://search.twitter.com and type in words related to what I am researching. For example, if I want apple pie recipes, I might try #pie, #applepie or #pierecipes to see if anyone is using those.
This site, Twubs, has many hashtags listed, some that are for specific groups or events. So getting back to my apple pie example, I found #cooking there. That gives me the idea to try #baking.
Tagalus has thousands of hashtags defined. You can define a new one, too. Unfortunately, it didn’t help at all with my apple pie recipe search.
Getting back to apple pie, I went to Twitter Search and tried a few different hashtags and then a hashtag combined with the word apple. Finally, here are some people interested in apple pie:
What are Trending Topics?
Trending Topics can be found on the Twitter Search page or on your main Twitter page. Often these topics have hashtags. Here are the trending topics on November 4, 2009:
You can also go to What the Trend? to learn more about the current trending topics.
Use hashtags to connect in a fun way:
One can use Twitter to connect with others – if you can’t think of what else to tweet, try Jack’s hashtag in the morning:
You might think, well, this is silly, but on the other hand, you might discover that Jack has a great business idea for moving your small biz site along. Or someone else does who responds to your hashtag. It’s like an ice breaker at a party.
Read more about Twitter hashtags:
Themocracy
So true! it becomes really easy to find relevant content if proper hash tags are used!
Yes, Dhaval, with the right hashtag you can get lots of responses.