No one listens when people say to keep hash tags simple. Sometimes making hashtags into acronyms can be confusing. I would be scratching my head if I saw #tna come across for possible a political or religious trending topic, but not mean TNA (short for…excuse my language – “Tits ‘n Ass.”) In fact, I probably would have clicked on it out of curiosity as my mind tends to go down the gutter when seeing things.
While TechCrunch gives a guide to understanding Twitter hashtags and trending topics, we have sites like What The Hashtag trying to make some semblence of the trending topic mess. What The Hashtag is a site that basically documents the trending topics and how they have developed. By the way, while using Firefox and my broadband, this site loaded VERY slowly, well over 40 seconds. I just about gave up, but being a dial-up user (not by choice, but because of location) not so long ago, I stuck it out despite the impatience. Note to What The Hashtag site owners: Perhaps a bit optimizing on the Media Wiki databases that the site works is something to consider doing soon.
Although I would love to condense my hashtags so I can fill my 140 character tweet with as much goodness as possible, why are such sites useful?
Well, from a business perspective, this is great to find the topic, its history and possibly join into the conversation. If you are seen in that hashtag giving out great advice, you will definitely be on the way to influencing others and even attracting clients. It could also allow you to use it as a supplemental site rather than watching the degenerates on Twitter that are tweeting defamatory trending topics.
Check it out What The Hashtag and tell me what you think about it. Is it something you would use and possibly recommend?
Blondish.net – New blog post: Hashtags: Hashed and Re-hashed http://bit.ly/3iwGxK