Why are Hashtags Important

When I first joined twitter, I used it just as I used my Facebook status updates. I put no effort into them and tweeted maybe once a week. But when I did sign in, I would see people ending their tweets with the “pound” (#) sign followed by a random word or phrase and didn’t really understand it. What was the point? Now a year later, I am a hashtag fanatic. But it wasn’t until this past week that I fully understood the power of hashtags. Here are the main reasons I’ve learned as to why and how hashtags are used.

1. To join a conversation

Recently, I was invited by Dave Kerpen to join the #blogchat conversation. I had never heard of it before and as a newbie blogger I decided to check it out. I typed #blogchat into the search bar and literally hundreds of tweets popped up. People were asking questions, sharing ideas, giving tips…. it was NONSTOP! This was my first time experiencing the power of the hashtag. People were re-tweeting each other and making connections with people who they would have never had the chance to talk to if not for #blogchat. It was a bit overwhelming, but a great learning experience both about blogs and about how twitter hashtags bring people together.

2. To start a trending topic

June 8-9 was the Likeable U Summer 2011 Summit (which was awesome but that’s another story). I was in charge of registration and was told to tell everyone who came in to tweet along with the conference using #likeable. Within the first few hours of the Summit, #likeable became a NYC trending topic on twitter!!

This shows just how influential the Summit was – that enough people were talking about the sessions and sharing their favorite moments to make an impact on the twitter-verse.

3. For Fun!

I use hashtags with almost every tweet I send – just because. I love when people hashtag random phrases to add humor to an ordinary tweet. It’s a great way to be creative and make your tweet unique and memorable.

What’s the best, funniest, most memorable hashtag you have used or have seen? What’s your main reason for using hashtags? Have you met any people after joining a hashtag twitter convo? Comment below!