How to Use Hashtags on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

A hashtag is simply a keyword phrase, spelled out without spaces, with a pound sign (#) in front of it. For example, #InboundHour and #ChocolateLovers are both ... HowtoUseHashtagsonTwitter,Facebook&Instagram LindsayKolowichCox Updated: November17,2020 Published: February13,2017 HowtoHashtag: Ahashtagshouldcontainonlyonewordwithoutspaces. Nopunctuationshouldbeincluded Includethehashtagwithinorafteryourmessage. Alotofwordshavebeenaddedtothedictionaryoverthepastfewdecadesthankstosocialmedia,butfewhavebecomesowidelyusedandacceptedas"hashtag." Foralongtime,thehashtagsymbol(#)wasknownsimplyasthe"pound"symbol.Now,IcouldswearthattheonlytimeIhearitreferredtoasapoundsymboliswhenIentermyPINnumbertopaymycellphonebill. WhilehashtagswereoriginallymadefamousbyTwitter,they'renowusedonmanymajorsocialnetworks,includingFacebookandInstagram.Let'sexplorewhatahashtagis,whythey'resogreat,andhowtheyworkonTwitter,Facebook,andInstagram. WhatDoes'Hashtag'Mean? Ahashtagissimplyakeywordphrase,spelledoutwithoutspaces,withapoundsign(#)infrontofit.Forexample,#InboundHourand#ChocolateLoversarebothhashtags. Youcanputthesehashtagsanywhereinyoursocialmediaposts:inthebeginning,attheend,oranywhereinbetween.(Readthisblogpostformoreinstructionsonusinghashtags.) Thesehashtagstiepublicconversationsfromalldifferentusersintoasinglestream,whichyoucanfindbysearchingforahashtag,clickingonone,orusingathird-partymonitoringtoollikeHubSpot'sSocialInbox.Notethat,inorderforapostwithahashtagtoappearinanyone'ssearch,thepostmustbepublic. WhatMakesHashtagsSoGreat? Backin2007whenhashtagswereabrandnewconcept,Google'sChrisMessinarealizedthevalueofhashtagsrightaway.Hewrotethatthe"channel"conceptofhashtagssatisfiesmanyofthethingsgroupdiscussionsdo,butwithoutinheritingthe"unnecessarymanagementcruft"thatmostgroupsystemssufferfrom. Inaddition,Messinawrotethatthey'reeasilyaccessiblewiththesyntaxonTwitter(andnowonothersocialmedianetworks),easytolearn,flexible,andworkswithcurrentuserbehaviorinsteadofforcinganyonetolearnanythingradicallynew.Italsoworksconsistentlyoncellphones--whereas,forexample,thestarkeydoesn't. Adecadelater,thehashtagcontinuestothrive.Whenusedproperly,hashtagsareagreatwayforindividualsandbrandstomaketheirsocialpostsmorevisibleandincreaseengagement.Theycangivepeopleusefulcontextandcuesforrecall,aggregatepostsandimagestogether,andupdateagroupoflike-mindedindividualsoncertainatopicinrealtime. Hashtagsareoftenusedtouniteconversationsaroundthingslike... Eventsorconferences,like#INBOUND17or#Rio2016 Disastersoremergencies,like#Aleppoor#PrayForNice Holidaysorcelebrations,like#WorldNutellaDayor#NationalCatDay Popularculturetopics,like#GameofThronesor#PokemonGO Generalinteresttopics,like#WinterWonderlandor#ChocolateLovers Popularhashtags,like#tbtor#MotivationMonday Thekeyistousehashtagssparinglyandonlywhentheyaddvalue.Usethemtoomuch,andtheycanbeconfusing,frustrating,andjustplainannoying. HowHashtagsWorkOnTwitter,Facebook&Instagram Clickonasocialnetworkbelowtojumptothatsection: HowHashtagsWorkonTwitter HowHashtagsWorkonFacebook HowHashtagsWorkonInstagram 1)HowHashtagsWorkonTwitter ATwitterhashtagtiestheconversationsofdifferentusersintoonestream.IfTwitteruserswhoaren'totherwiseconnectedtooneanothertalkaboutthesametopicusingaspecifichashtag,theirtweetswillappearinthesamestream. Here'swhatahashtagstreamonTwitterlookslike--we'lluse#MotivationMondayasanexample: Mostofthegoodstufftakesplaceinthecenterofthispage.Forthehashtag#MotivationMonday,you'llseethereareafewwaystotogglethehashtagstream:Top(thedefault),Latest,People,Photos,Videos,andMore. Top:Astreamoftweetsusingthathashtagthathaveseenthemostengagement--whichusuallymeanstweetsfrominfluentialpeopleorbrandsthathavealotoffollowers.(Downloadourguideonhowtoget1,000+Twitterfollowershere.) Latest:Alivestreamofthelatesttweetsfromeveryonetweetingoutthathashtag. People:AlistoftopTwitteraccountstofollowrelatedtothehashtag. Photos:Acollageofphotosincludedintweetsthatusethehashtag.Whenyouhoveryourmouseoveraphoto,youcanreply,retweet,orLikethetweetwithjustoneclick.Youcanopenthetweetbyclickingonthephoto. Videos:Astreamoftweetsusingthehashtagthathavevideosinthem. More:Adropdownmenuthathasafewgreatoptionstopickfrom,including"Frompeopleyoufollow"and"Nearyou."Youcanalsosaveyoursearchherebyclicking"Savethissearch."Toaccessitlater,simplyclickintothesearchboxonthetoprightofyourTwitterhomescreenandit'llappearasasavedsearch. Ontheleft-handsideofthescreenonthe#MotivationMonday stream,you'llfind"Relatedsearches."Thisisespeciallyusefulifyou'relookingforunofficialhashtagsforyourowneventsandcampaignsandothers'. HowtoUseHashtagsonTwitter Wanttogetinvolvedintheconversation,orevenstartyourown?UsingahashtagonTwitterisassimpleaspublishingatweetfromapublicaccountthatincludesthehashtag,likethis: Alittleinspirationforyour#MotivationMonday.pic.twitter.com/EtcyUm9p4O —HubSpot(@HubSpot)December12,2016 Aslongasyouraccountispublic,anyonewhodoesasearchforthathashtagmayfindyourtweet. HowtoFindHashtagsonTwitter ThereareafewwaystofindhashtagsonTwitter.Ifyoualreadyknowthehashtagyouwanttosearchfor,therearefourmainwaystosearchforit:asimplesearch,anadvancedsearch,monitoringusingathird-partytool,ortypingitdirectlyintotheURL. Youcandoasimplesearchusingthesearchboxinthetopright-handcornerofyourscreen: Ifyou'researchingforahashtagbutwanttoincludemoredetailsinyoursearch,tryTwitter'sAdvancedSearch.Here,youcansearchfortweetswithspecificwordsandphrases,writteninacertainlanguage,fromcertainaccounts,nearcertainlocations,publishedoncertaindates,andevencontainingsmiley:)orfrowny:(faces. Forexample,ifIwantedtosearchforthesad#MotivationMondaytweets,ImightsearchfortheMotivationMondayhashtagwithafrownyface,likeso: Theresultsshowupinastreamwithdifferenttoggleoptions,justlikeouroriginalhashtagsearch. Youcanalsouseathird-partymonitoringtoollikeHubSpot'sSocialInboxtomonitorcertainhashtags.Thesetoolswillputcertainhashtagsinastreambesideanyotherstreamsyou'vesetupinthetoolalready. (HubSpotcustomers:TosetupastreaminSocialInbox,clickSocial>Monitoring>“+”andenterthenameofthehashtagyou'dliketomonitor.Clickherefordetailedinstructionsonhowtocreatemonitoringstreams.) Finally,youcansearchforahashtagbytypingitdirectlyintoaURLlikeso:twitter.com/InsertHashtagHere.So#MotivationMondaycanbefoundattwitter.com/#MotivationMonday. Ifyou'researchingforpopularhashtagsfromscratch,thebestplacetolookisthetrendingtopicsbarontheleft-handsideofyourhomescreen.Popularhashtaggedwordsoftenbecometrendingtopics--whicharetopicssomanypeoplearetalkingaboutthattheyarea"trend."Thetopicsbarwillalsoshowyouifaccountsyoufollowaretweetingaboutthetrendingtopics. Bydefault,Twittertailorsthesetrendingtopicstoyoubasedonyourlocationandwhomyoufollow.IfyouwanttochangethelocationTwitterusestotailoryourtrends,youcandosobyclicking"Change"totherightof"Trends."Inthewindowthatappears,click"Change"again,andthenenterinthelocationinformationyou'dlikeTwittertouseinstead. Twitter'snative"trendingtopics"islimitedtoonlyafewhashtags,soifyouwanttofindmoreoutsideoftrendingtopicsandyoudon'tknowwhattosearchfor,considerusingAdvancedSearchtobrowsetweets,orathird-partyapplicationlikeTrendsmap. TwitterChatHashtags Alongwithhashtagsforevents,campaigns,andpromotions,therearetheseuniquethingsonTwittercalledTwitterChats.TwitterChatsareliveQ&Asessionsorganizedaroundahashtag--eitheronthefly,oratapre-arrangedtime. IlikehowBufferexplainsthem:"Imagineabusinessnetworkingevent--butwithoutadresscodeandwithakeyboardinsteadofabar.Thesamesocialcustomsapply--courtesyandrespect--andit’sagreatwaytomeetnewpeoplewithsimilarinterests." ThereareTwitterChatsaboutprettymucheverything,frommarketingtopersonalfinancetoaffinitiesforcats. Ifyou'relookingforTwitterchatstoengagein,checkoutTweetReports'TwitterChatSchedule,whichyoucantogglebydate,hashtag,andtopicslikewriting,socialmedia,andsoon.YoucanalsosubmityourownTwitterchatstobeconsidered. 2)HowHashtagsWorkonFacebook LikeonTwitter,aFacebookhashtagtiestheconversationsofdifferentusersintoonestream.ButunlikeTwitterandInstagram,wheremanypeoplehavepublicaccountsandtheirpostscanbeseenbyanyone,mostpeople'sFacebookpostsandaccountsareprivate.Thismeansthatevenifindividualsareusinghashtags,theyaren'tsearchable.Theresult?ThehashtagsyoucansearchforonFacebooktendtobepublishedbyinfluencers,brands,andpublishers,ratherthanbyindividuals. Here'swhatahashtagstreamonFacebooklookslike,using#MotivationMondayasanexample: Mostofthegoodstufftakesplaceinthecenterofthispage.Forthehashtag#MotivationMonday,you'llseethereareawholebunchofwaystotogglethehashtagstream--evenmorethanwehaveonTwitter:Top(thedefault),Latest,People,Photos,Videos,Shop,Pages,Places,Groups,Apps,andEvents. Top:AstreamofFacebookpostsusingthathashtagthathaveseenthemostengagement--whichusuallymeanspostsfrominfluentialpeopleorbrandsthathavealotoffollowers--andyourFacebookfriendspostingusingthehashtag. Latest:AstreamofpublicFacebookpostsusingthehashtag,usuallybyinfluencers,brands,orpublishers--likeafitnessgurupostinganinstructionalworkoutvideo. People:PeopleonFacebookwithanameofficiallyassociatedwiththehashtag.Forahashtaglike#MotivationMonday,therearenoresultshere. Photos:AstreamofpublicFacebookpostsusingthehashtagthathavephotosinthem. Videos:AstreamofpublicFacebookpostsusingthehashtagthathavevideosinthem. Shop:PagescannowselltheirproductsdirectlytoFacebookusersusingthisfeature.Forahashtaglike#MotivationMonday,therearenoresultshere. Pages:ThistabshowsFacebookPagesassociatedwithorpostingaboutthehashtagyou'vesearchedfor. Places:Placesintheworldwithanameofficiallyassociatedwiththehashtag.Forahashtaglike#MotivationMonday,therearenoresultshere. Groups:Groupswithanameofficiallyassociatedwiththehashtag. Apps:Facebookappswithanameofficiallyassociatedwiththehashtag. Events:Facebookeventswithanameofficiallyassociatedwiththehashtag. HowtoUseHashtagsonFacebook TouseahashtagonFacebook,allyouhavetodoispublishaFacebookposttoyourPageortimelinethatincludesthehashtag. BesureyourpostispublicifyouwantpeopleotherthanyourFacebookfriendstobeabletofindit.TomakeaFacebookpostpublic,clickonthebuttontotherightof"Post"andchoose"Public"fromthedropdownmenu. OnceyoupublishtheposttoyourPageortimeline,thehashtagbecomesaclickablelink,whichtakesfolkstothehashtagpage.Here'swhataFacebookpostwithahashtaglookslike: HowtoFindHashtagsonFacebook Ifyoualreadyknowthehashtagyouwanttosearchfor,therearetwomainwaystosearchforit:asimplesearchorbytypingitdirectlyintotheURL. Youcandoasimplesearchusingthesearchboxinthetopleft-handcornerofyourscreen: YoucanalsosearchforahashtagbytypingitdirectlyintoaURLlikeso:facebook.com/hashtag/InsertHashtagHere.So#MotivationMondaycanbefoundatwww.facebook.com/hashtag/MotivationMonday. Ifyou'researchingforpopularhashtagsfromscratch,thebestplacetolookisthetrendingtopicsbarontheleft-handsideofyourhomescreen.(Note:ThisiscurrentlyonlyavailableinEnglishinselectcountries.)ThearticlesandhashtagsFacebookshowsyouarebasedonanumberofdifferentfactors,includingengagement,timeliness,pagesyou'veLiked,andyourlocation. WhilemosttrendingtopicsonTwitteraremostlyhashtags,thisisnotusuallythecaseonFacebook.You'llseethat noneofthetrendingtopicsbelowarehashtags: 3)HowHashtagsWorkonInstagram AnInstagramhashtagtiestheconversationsofdifferentusersintoonestream,justlikeonTwitterandFacebook.IfInstagramuserswhoaren'totherwiseconnectedtooneanothertalkaboutthesametopicusingaspecifichashtag,theirpostswillappearinthesamestream. Here'swhatahashtagstreamonInstagramlookslike--again,using#MotivationMondayasanexample: NoticetheuserinterfaceonInstagram'shashtagstreamismuchsimplerthanthoseonTwitterandFacebook.Therearethreethingsyoucandofromthispage:Scrollthroughrelatedhashtags,lookattheTopPosts,andbrowseRecentPosts. RelatedHashtags:Allrelatedhashtags(like#dontquit,#getmotivated,etc.inthiscase),whichuserscanscrollthroughsideways. TopPosts:Theninepostsusingthathashtagthathaveseenthemostengagement--whichusuallymeanstweetsfrominfluentialpeopleorbrandsthathavealotoffollowers.Thisislimitedtonineposts. MostRecent:AlivestreamofInstagrampostsfromeveryonepostingthathashtag. HowtoUseHashtagsonInstagram Wanttogetinvolvedintheconversation,orevenstartyourown?UsingahashtagonInstagramisassimpleaspublishinganInstagrampostfromapublicaccountthatincludesthehashtag,likethis: Aslongasyouraccountispublic,anyonewhodoesasearchforthathashtagmayfindyourInstagrampost. Whenyouwriteanewpostandstarttypinginahashtagusingthe#symbol,Instagramwillactuallysuggesthashtagstoyoubasedontheirpopularity.CheckoutthesuggestionsIgotwhenItypedintheincompletehashtag,#Motivation: HowtoFindHashtagsonInstagram Ifyoualreadyknowthehashtagyouwanttosearchfor,theonlywaytosearchforahashtagonInstagramonyourmobiledeviceisthroughasimplesearch.Youcandoasimplesearchbyclickingthemagnifyingglassatthebottomofyourscreen,whichbringsyoutothe"Explore"tab.Fromthere,typethehashtagnameintothesearchboxatthetopofyourscreen,andtoggleyourresultsby"Tags": Ifyou'researchingforpopularhashtagsfromscratch,thebestplacetolookisinInstagram's"Explore"tab.Here,you'llfindpopularpostslikedbypeoplewhosepostsyou'veLiked,orpoststhatareLikedbyalargenumberofpeopleintheInstagramcommunity. Gotothe"Explore"tabbyclickingthatmagnifyingglassatthebottomofyourscreen.Checkoutpoststheretobrowsetrendinghashtagsbyscrollingdown. WhatAboutUsingHashtags"intheWild"? Althoughhashtagswerebornandworkbestonline,youcanpointpeopletotheminreallife.Tryplacinghashtagsinrelevantandwelltraffickedpubliclocations--likeinpicturesorposters,menus,stickers,andsoon--toencouragepeopletosearchforthathashtagonline. WhatotherhashtagtipsdoyouhaveforTwitter,Facebook,andInstagram?Sharewithusinthecomments. Editor'sNote:ThispostwasoriginallypublishedinFebruary2016andhasbeenupdatedforfreshness,accuracy,andcomprehensiveness. Topics: Hashtags Don'tforgettosharethispost! 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