Twitter Tip: What is a hashtag (#) on Twitter?

posted by Alicia in Twitter

Lucy asks me a question on Twitter
My Twitter buddy @LucyBakerMakeup asked me a question about hashtags (see above) so here’s a quick #101.

Twitter Hashtag 101

A hashtag groups tweets together on a particular subject. When you add a ‘#’ directly in front of a word (or acronym) on Twitter – a link is automatically created. This is called a hashtag. When you click on the link you will see all the latest tweets containing that hashtag, making them easy to find among the millions of tweets sent each day.
Hashtags are user generated. Their popularity has grown organically to become part of Twitter culture and a valuable tool for users. Here’s why…

• You can use a hashtag to follow or search tweets on a topic of interest. That may be an organised event, TV programme, noteworthy cause, breaking or running news story, or group conversation taking place on Twitter. They’re valuable in emergency situations and relief efforts too.

Social media for social good using a Twitter hashtag

• You can add a hashtag to your message so it reaches more people – your tweet is seen by your followers and anyone following the hashtag.
• Often users will use a hashtag to add context or irony to a message, #fail and #justsayin being examples of this.

Useful tip from Francisco Rosales

• The most popular hashtag is probably #followfriday or #ff – you can read more about Follow Friday here.
• You can create a hashtag to generate interest around an organised event making it easy for attendees to meet others, or allow those who can’t attend to keep up to date with latest goings on. They are great for making real life connections, finding people with mutual interests, and creating desire and buzz around your event with the ‘Hey, I’m missing out!’ factor.

Sounds good. How do I get one?

Hashtags are not an official feature of Twitter. This makes it difficult to find the origin or reason for a hashtag (particularly if it’s a weird acronym) or stop other users adopting a hashtag that’s already in use. Hashtags.org is one of the better websites to use if you want to find out the meaning behind a hashtag. Anyone can create a hashtag but before you do consider these tips:

1. Make it short, memorable and appropriate. No one wants to type a long hashtag or use up valuable space imposed by the 140 character limit in a post
2. When you’ve decided on your chosen hashtag – check it’s not already in use. You could have chosen something that will have negative connotations. It’s simple to check – just search for the hashtag you’ve chosen and if it’s already taken, find another
3. If your hashtag includes more than one word, like ‘World Cup’, remember to close the space between the words (like this: #worldcup) otherwise your hashtag could take on another meaning (#world cup – ‘world’ will become the hashtag)
4. If your tag is for an event remember to tell people before, during and after, and encourage them to use it so your message and buzz spreads virally

What else you should know…

If you’re going to use hashtags in your tweets, don’t overdo it by putting a # in front of every word. Not only is it spammy and annoying to read, your message really won’t make sense.
Also, don’t hijack a popular hashtag that has no relevance to your message just to get your tweet seen. This is spam and you may be reported by a disgruntled user, or worse.

How to use the @ symbol on twitter

People still don't know how to use Twitter.
You'd think it would be easy, but it's not. We see one big mistake over and over that drives us crazy.
So as a public service announcement, and a quick way to deal with our irrational frustration, we're going to do a two-second explainer on how to tweet using the "@" symbol.
Ready? Here goes ...

When you @ someone, the only people who see the message are the people that follow you and follow the person you are @-ing.

So, if we write, "@thestalwart you are one smart dude!" The followers who don't follow @thestalwart don't see the message. Why? Because if they saw us tweeting at people it would be a confusing one-sided conversation. If they follow both of us, then they can follow the conversation.

Now, let's say we want everyone to see the message we are sending to @thestalwart. How do we make that happen? With a "." So, it would be, ".@thestalwart You're a genius!"
You don't have to use a period. You could use any character. You could write, ">@thestalwart you rock!"
The period seems to be the most popular one, though.
Anyway, that's it!
It's simple, but people still get confused.
Here's some common mistakes:
There is no need for a "." in front of an RT, which means "Retweet." We've seen people tweet, ".RT@thestalwart You so smart!" or we've seen, "You are so smart .@thestalwart, can I get your autograph?"

In those tweets, the "." is not necessary. Why? Because there are characters in front of the Twitter handle.
Do you have any questions about using Twitter? Ask in the comments and we'll answer! Don't worry about asking a dumb question, you're anonymous.

 http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-the--symbol-on-twitter-2012-4#ixzz2uFcgX9ZO

Know your tyre

Tyres are important components of any vehicle. The stability of the vehicle depends, among other things, on the integrity of the tyres it’s seating on. The joy or the discomfiture of a ride cannot be separated from the condition of the tyres.

Tyres conventionally carry a lot of valuable information on its outer body: the number beside the “psi” indicates the maximum number of air pressure that must be pumped into the tyre. But it’s better to give emphasis to the vehicle’s manufacturer’s recommended psi (which can be found on the plate sticker usually attached to the driver’s side door-post) instead of the tyre’s manufacturer’s specification that’s spelt out on it.

Tyres also bear a 4-digit numerical mark that states the week and the year of their manufacture (for example, “4106” means the forty-first week, “41”, of the year two thousand and six, “06”). This information is very important; the life span of tyres, either they’re put to use or not used at all, is five years. So, if tyres are ostensibly looking totally new, indeed if they’ve never been used at all, but if it’s five years old, it’s already bad.

The climate in which tyres can be used is also usually specified on the tyres. There are tyres with the mark stating that they should only be used in wintery weather; these must not be used in tropical regions of the world. Other vital indicators like the alphanumeric signage that states the nominal section width of the tyre, say, “165”, stroke the “aspect ratio”, i.e. the height of the tyre sidewall as a percentage of the nominal section width, “65”, with “R” radial construction, and, “14”, the diameter of the tyre’s inner rim in inches. All these coming out as “165/65R14”, are also important in deciding which tyre to buy for a vehicle and a defined purpose.

The information that is seldom understood and adhered to is the load capacity of a tyre, say “79” on the attached picture below, and the tyre speed rating­-i.e. the maximum speed for the tyre at full load-usually depicted as an alphabetical letter, “T” in our pictorial sample (- M: 81mph or 130 km/h, – N: 87 mph or 140 km/h, – P: 93 mph or 150 km/h, – Q: 99 mph or 160 km/h, – R: 106 mph or 170 km/h, – S: 112 mph or 180 km/h, – T: 118 mph or 190 km/h, – U: 124 mph or 200 km/h, – H: 130 mph or 210 km/h, – V: 149 mph or 240 km/h, – Z: in excess of 149 mph or 240 km/h plus, – W: 168 mph or 270 km/h, – Y: 186 mph or 300 km/h), should reasonably be subjected to.