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Old words today sometimes take on new meanings. Corned beef hash, one of my old favorite breakfast
treats has now become hash with a tag at its end or a "hashtag". The written symbol for
the hashtag is the pound sign (or #). Combined with a word or two without spaces it becomes
a tag for Google, Twitter and others to read. In essence a tag is a label which can describe
content. With information systems a tag is a non-hierarchical keyword used in the metadata
which describes a useful bit of information. Tags are used as once key words were until
they were spammed to death resulting for spam to give way to hash? OK, so kind of true,
until hasthags become overused and abused wherein they become the new spam. In the meantime
let's take a look at what hashtags are and how you can use them to market your book,
magazine or wares. Using Twitter as the prime example you would
use the hashtag that would be relevant to your tweet. In my case where I am a book printer,
I would add my link and short message along with #books to appeal to anyone interested
in books, book printing or anything else associated with books. If I want to expand my potential
in order to wind up in wider streams of content I may choose #business. Should I want to go
off topic and become part of "what's trending up at the moment" I may try #android or #healthcare
but you of course do risk becoming spammy when you go way off topic like that.
In addition to LinkedIn other social networking sites have recently adopted hashtags such
as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and more. Hashtags need not be solely the
ones most commonly used, so definitely incorporate those that best label or define your post.
The bottom line is that in a cluttered web where everyone is vying for attention, this
is one more way to claim your space on the internet highway especially in areas where
you were not previously noticed. So get into the flow, forget the eggs and just order the
hash.