Want to create a community in a matter of minutes? The next time you have an event or a social gathering, invite participation through the useful #hashtag.
There are a number of places to go to promote events and #hashtag use. First off, #hashtag use is probably the easiest way to keep track of conversations revolving around an event or topic. Secondly, #hashtags allow you to archive important events and track trends in conversations and thinking. The use of #hashtags is easy to keep track of:
- Twubs.com - This site helps you follow #hashtag groups, and quickly become part of the ongoing discussion. The site collects Tweets from various people who use a common #hashtag, essentially creating virtual groups or conferences. In fact, Twubs offers a Conference Suite to help you keep track of followers, bloggers or anyone using a common hashtag. What I like about Twubs is it will combine competing #hashtags for a single event or group and aggregate all of the conversations together into one feed.
- Tweetdeck, HootSuite, Seesmic et. al. - Any of the Twitter tools will allow you to follow #hashtags. You just create a column with the #hashtag you're interested in and the application keeps feeding in the latest Tweets.
- TweetChat - This service looks just like your Twitter homepage once you connect using Twitter Connect to access your account. You then enter a #hashtag and TweetChat updates Tweets in real-time. It's a great way to see a dynamic conversation take place across many timezones.
- Hashtags.org - Will allow you to search for #hashtags and see the most common ones in use.
- Twitter Search - Twitter's search tool will find all conversations surrounding a #hashtag.
- Tospy - Another great way to find archives of #hashtag conversations.
I know a few folks don't like #hashtags, but I find them to be an excellent way to keep track of conversations and archive events. I have used them very effectively in a number of live chats and conferences. Recently, the Nevada Supreme Court used the #lawdaylive to moderate a two-hour virtual conference and chat revolving around the issues of #cyberbullying and #sexting. The #hashtag allowed for people to participate and ask questions from anywhere. It was highly successful and instigated some good discussion during the video chat. Overall, I'm a big fan of #hashtags. What's your opinion?
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