This entry was posted
on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 9:17 am
and is filed under blogging, social media.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
9 Responses to “Why are #hashtags and #followfriday important?”
Hi – interesting series of videos, will go back and have a look at some previous ones too. Have to say I haven’t really used the # much , but will pay it a bit more attention now. I like the #follow friday except when someone does a whole series in one go and fills the screen – those people have the opposite effect.
Another great vid. It got me thinking. I discovered that there wasn’t a #hashtag for “professional photographers” only #togs and #photographers. Too broad from my task. So I just started one as #protogs. Not sure what value there is in it at this point, but thought I’d throw it out there.
I am now using hashtags for almost 2 weeks and it’s true that’s it very helpful. Also, the #followfriday it’s very good idea and show others person on your profile which person your like and they maybe like to follow too.
Stan, I love the idea of #protogs. I will try it right now.
I like the concept of #followfriday, but I’m starting to hate the form. Simply posting #ff followed by as many usernames as you can fit into a single tweet does nothing for me. I don’t have the time to click on 8 different names and read through their posts to see if they’d be an interesting person to follow. Twitter is supposed to be about streamlined communications.
Instead of just throwing a bunch of usernames out there, write up a reason to follow a particular user or users in 140 characters or less.
For example, I exchanged quite a few messages a few weeks ago with a handful of users here in Minneapolis. We discussed the Timberwolves GM search, season ticket selection at the new Gophers football stadium and new Twins ballpark, and the neverending rumor of Brett Favre playing for the Vikings. There was some good exchanges going on that week.
When Friday arrived, I tweeted: “#followfriday I like sports and people who talk about sports @thisguy @thatguy @thatonegirl @anothergirl”
That message was retweeted a handful of times that day. I never received that kind of response before, but that’s when I would just throw out names.
So I agree that Follow Friday is a good thing, but do it right. Your followers can click and see who you are following any day. On Friday, put in the effort and give them a good reason to follow someone.
#Hashtags: just to clarify, it isn’t necessary to use a hashtag to search for content; using a hashtag as part of the search query may cut out some of the noise, but it will also exclude relevant results from people that do not use hashtags.
#Followfriday: It’s surprising to see how #followfriday morphed so quickly into spam. The original intent was a sincere effort to give thanks to specific people for their contributions, but the way most people use #followfriday today simply doesn’t do justice to the original intent. If it *truly* is about giving thanks to other people, there are more meaningful ways to do it.
You make a valid point about hashtags. But, I think people using them are generally using them as part of the community building process. Some hashtags are certainly better than others.
I’ve not noticed the #followfriday spam. #followfriday is like a good personal or business referral. I follow up with people who have offered good #ff referrals in the past. If someone is using it for spam in my community, I would unfollow them immediately.
I guess I can see how #ff could be used as spam if you follow the general hashtag, but that is too general for me. I just look for the people I trust and follow their recommendations.
Hi – interesting series of videos, will go back and have a look at some previous ones too. Have to say I haven’t really used the # much , but will pay it a bit more attention now. I like the #follow friday except when someone does a whole series in one go and fills the screen – those people have the opposite effect.
Hi Rosh,
Another great vid. It got me thinking. I discovered that there wasn’t a #hashtag for “professional photographers” only #togs and #photographers. Too broad from my task. So I just started one as #protogs. Not sure what value there is in it at this point, but thought I’d throw it out there.
Best… Stan
Stan, I like it! I wish I had thought of that. I’ll look for it and retweet it.
Rosh
Hi Rosh,
I am now using hashtags for almost 2 weeks and it’s true that’s it very helpful. Also, the #followfriday it’s very good idea and show others person on your profile which person your like and they maybe like to follow too.
Stan, I love the idea of #protogs. I will try it right now.
Thanks,
Frederic
I like the concept of #followfriday, but I’m starting to hate the form. Simply posting #ff followed by as many usernames as you can fit into a single tweet does nothing for me. I don’t have the time to click on 8 different names and read through their posts to see if they’d be an interesting person to follow. Twitter is supposed to be about streamlined communications.
Instead of just throwing a bunch of usernames out there, write up a reason to follow a particular user or users in 140 characters or less.
For example, I exchanged quite a few messages a few weeks ago with a handful of users here in Minneapolis. We discussed the Timberwolves GM search, season ticket selection at the new Gophers football stadium and new Twins ballpark, and the neverending rumor of Brett Favre playing for the Vikings. There was some good exchanges going on that week.
When Friday arrived, I tweeted: “#followfriday I like sports and people who talk about sports @thisguy @thatguy @thatonegirl @anothergirl”
That message was retweeted a handful of times that day. I never received that kind of response before, but that’s when I would just throw out names.
So I agree that Follow Friday is a good thing, but do it right. Your followers can click and see who you are following any day. On Friday, put in the effort and give them a good reason to follow someone.
#Hashtags: just to clarify, it isn’t necessary to use a hashtag to search for content; using a hashtag as part of the search query may cut out some of the noise, but it will also exclude relevant results from people that do not use hashtags.
#Followfriday: It’s surprising to see how #followfriday morphed so quickly into spam. The original intent was a sincere effort to give thanks to specific people for their contributions, but the way most people use #followfriday today simply doesn’t do justice to the original intent. If it *truly* is about giving thanks to other people, there are more meaningful ways to do it.
You make a valid point about hashtags. But, I think people using them are generally using them as part of the community building process. Some hashtags are certainly better than others.
I’ve not noticed the #followfriday spam. #followfriday is like a good personal or business referral. I follow up with people who have offered good #ff referrals in the past. If someone is using it for spam in my community, I would unfollow them immediately.
I guess I can see how #ff could be used as spam if you follow the general hashtag, but that is too general for me. I just look for the people I trust and follow their recommendations.
Rosh
Play Video Comment
Dave, Good thoughts and thanks for being the first to use the new video/audio comment system.
Rosh