Hello Ed,

Here is some info to answer your question:

The Beginner's Guide to the Hashtag

By Rebecca Hiscott
Oct 08, 2013


If you’re a social media novice, hashtags — those short links preceded by the 
pound sign (#) — may seem confusing and unnecessary. But they are integral to 
the way we communicate online, and it’s important to know how to use them (even 
though some people, like Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, are not the 
biggest fans). Plus, they can be a lot of fun.

On Twitter, the pound sign (or hash) turns any word or group of words that 
directly follow it into a searchable link. This allows you to organize content 
and track discussion topics based on those keywords. So, if you wanted to post 
about the Breaking Bad finale, you would include #BreakingBad in your tweet to 
join the conversation. Click on a hashtag to see all the posts that mention the 
subject in real time. 

The hashtag’s widespread use began with Twitter but has extended to other 
social media platforms. In 2007, developer Chris Messina proposed, in a tweet, 
that Twitter begin grouping topics using the hash symbol. Twitter initially 
rejected the idea. But in October 2007, citizen journalists began using the 
hashtag #SanDiegoFire, at Messina’s suggestion, to tweet updates on a series of 
forest fires in San Diego. The practice of hashtagging took off; now users and 
brands employ hashtags to cover serious political events (#Cairo) and 
entertainment topics (#MileyCyrus) alike.

Which characters can you include in a #hashtag? 

For starters, spaces are an absolute no-no. Even if your hashtag contains 
multiple words, group them all together. If you want to differentiate between 
words, use capitals instead (#BlueJasmine). Uppercase letters will not alter 
your search results, so searching for #BlueJasmine will yield the same results 
as #bluejasmine.

Numbers are supported, so tweet about #50ShadesOfGrey to your heart’s content. 
However, punctuation marks are not, so commas, periods, exclamation points, 
question marks and apostrophes are out. Forget about asterisks, ampersands or 
any other special characters.

Keep in mind that the @ symbol does something completely different. Using @ 
before a person’s Twitter handle will tweet at him directly, letting him know 
you have written to him via the @Connect tab. A hashtag will not. Sometimes 
users will hashtag a celebrity’s name instead of using her Twitter handle — it 
is acceptable to tweet #Lorde or @lordemusic. But if you are trying to reach 
someone directly, don’t use a hashtag.

There is no preset list of hashtags. Create a brand new hashtag simply by 
putting the hash before a series of words, and if it hasn't been used before, 
voilà! You've invented a hashtag.

Supported Platforms

Most major social media platforms support hashtags. These include:

Twitter: Twitter is the birthplace of modern hashtag usage — as such, its 
hashtags are more versatile than other sites' (see “Tone & Voice,” below). 
Twitter hashtags are mainly used to denote specific topics of conversation; the 
“Trends” sidebar of your Twitter feed curates a list of hashtags you might be 
interested in, based on your tweets. 

When you search for a hashtag on Twitter, there are three ways to filter the 
results. The "Top" option displays the most relevant and popular posts, 
including those from users you don't follow. "All" shows you every tweet that 
uses the specific hashtag in real time, and "People you follow" will only 
display results from users you are following

Source located at:  
http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/what-is-hashtag/#Xz2_9IpRIPq4

Mark


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of 
Mr. Ed
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 6:32 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Is there a Twitter hash tag for VO accessibility issues?

Hi Mark,
What is a hash tag?
Mr. Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of 
M. Taylor
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2017 8:05 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Is there a Twitter hash tag for VO accessibility issues?

Hello Keith, 

The only way to determine if there is an existing hash tag on any given subject 
is to perform a serch using that possible hash tag.

If nothing comes up, then begin contacting various companies using the hash tag 
you wish to employ.  Also, create new tweets using that hash tag, as well.  
With any luck, others will begin using that particular hash tag, also.

Mark


From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of 
Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D.
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2017 11:34 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Is there a Twitter hash tag for VO accessibility issues?

Hi,

I’m wondering if anyone knows of a preferred Twitter hash tag for use when 
contacting companies that have been unresponsive to earlier requests for 
accessibility improvements?

Thanks, Keith
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