However, one of the reasons I like twitter is that you can send out random messages, quotes, pictures, links, or shout outs about whatever is on your brain at the moment. As someone who has tweeted, yes, over a 1000 times you would think that I had a good understanding of the ins and outs of all the aspects of this site. For instance, I have a pretty good idea of what is a good tweet, a bad tweet, the retweet, the tag (@), and what it means to follow and be followed. However the most important and most random (or so it seems) element of twitter still manages to stump me--that is, the inevitable, unavoidable hashtag.
Marked by placing a pound symbol (#) before a word, I was under the impression that this simple little device was a means to connect tweets of a common topic to one central location. If, for example, I 'tweeted' about the weather, I might put #weather at the end of my tweet so that anyone and everyone who even cares what people are tweeting about the weather can possibly see my special weather tweet. So why do I find them so confusing?
Probably because the hashtag is more than simply a means to connect a topic. It is almost a symbol of "what lies beneath" the tweet. Hashtags like "#donotwant" or "#lol" seem to symbolize the feeling you wanted to say in your tweet, but instead you made it cooler by putting the words together and slapping a # in front of it. My favorite examples are those that are by themselves without a tweet to be found: "#iamsoupsetandthishashtaghelpsmeexpressmyangerwithouttheneedforspaces"
I mean, really? What is the point of the hashtag if you don't have a common purpose? I have had a few moments of the marathon hashtag, but even as I did it, I asked myself why? Perhaps someone will explain the art of hashtags to me, but for now I will continue my tweeting as it allows me to post the most random messages--whether they are insightful or idiotic-- to all of my faithful followers.
#thanksforreading
