What the #hashtag?

If you’ve ever used Twitter, you would have seen that some posts contain the symbol # (hashtag) followed by a word. I guess many people will have seen #FF.

So what does it mean?

#FF means Follow Friday. On a Friday, Twitters usually post a message with recommendations of who to follow. Here’s an example to help.

Fantastic #FF @LuminosityPub @roxileeauthor @HCBrownauthor @WriterJasWalker @LilithDarville @TatumThrone @JenniferDenys

This is a great way to acquire more followers, because the Tweet gets retweeted and reaches a far larger audience.

If you Tweet with a # on a public account, anyone searching for that particular hashtag may find your Tweet. Popular hashtagged words are often trending topics. Click on any #hashtagged word and you will find Tweets relating to that particular topic.

I’m an author, what possible use could they be to me?

If you have a book to promote they are very useful. Say for instance your book is an erotic BDSM romance, you could Tweet a message with

(MY BOOK TITLE) 5 Star reviewed by Amazon reader – The most #erotic #BDSM romance I’ve ever read.

This will allow your Tweets to reach a wider audience, and connect with lovers of BDSM, and erotic romance. This technique is especially useful if you have only a few followers.

Recommendations

Twitter recommends you only have 2 #hastags per Tweet, otherwise it is seen as spam, and they may suspend your account.

Never use any offensive words, because Twitter will immediately close your account.

List of useful #hashtags

#FF (Follow Friday)

#ThrowbackThursday is a very popular tweet which is sent, you guessed it on a Thursday. (Attach an old photo image of yourself)

You can see what’s trending at the following web address http://www.hashtags.org/ This is a useful site for checking on the next big trend. If you can incorporate one of these hashtags within your message then you may reach a larger audience.

Check to see what other authors are doing. What are they using in their Tweets? Incorporate the useful #hashtags into your Tweets.

I hope this has helped demystify the #hashtag on Twitter.

Happy Tweeting