Perhaps you’ve seen the hilarious skit on The Tonight Show hosted by Jimmy Fallon featuring Fallon hash-tagging just about everything you can possibly think of with Justin Timberlake. And trust me, I know that this skit is from last year, but it still sums up hashtags beautifully. If you haven’t seen it, go watch this NOW:
What is a hashtag, you ask? Here is Google’s definition:
I’ll explain for those who aren’t currently caught up in the hashtag craze– the hashtag began on Twitter as a means of categorizing and defining tweet topics and has since leaked to most social media sites. Why does this matter to #AVTweeps such as you and I? If you knew, you probably wouldn’t be scratching your head, wondering what an AVTweep is (FYI, according to tagdef.com/avtweeps, the term was coined by Lisa Dase of @IMS_AV to tweet to the AV community).
I will admit, that I personally have a love/hate relationship with social media and hashtags. I have been Facebook-free for well over a year, just recently started to actively use Twitter, and I use Instagram only to post pictures of my son (because I am that Mom that has to share every cute face he makes with my other Mom friends…he’s one, and he’s my first, so gimme a break).
However, my real love/hate relationship with hashtags stems from my position as a Marketer for a B2B tech company. I admittedly have had a hard time seeing the benefits of Social Media for NanoLumens, other than the necessary evil of having to stay active in our accounts for the sake of brand awareness, and frankly, it feels like one more thing I have to worry about with our Marketing.
However, now that I am actively using my Twitter account, I’m in hashtag heaven — or is it, #heaven? I still get confused… Regardless, in my recent Tweeting adventures, I’ve discovered some cool things that make hashtags matter in the AV world.
Here are my top three reasons to embrace hashtags:
Keep up to date with what’s happening at events: Lots of major events and trade shows have hashtags worth following. Want to know what booths you should be checking out, or who led an amazing workshop? Follow hashtags on Twitter and see what other attendees are saying. Headed to InfoComm this year? You can start following #InfoComm14 now and get the pre-show scoop.
You can keep track of relevant conversations: By searching and following hashtags relevant to our industry, you can find out how major players are shaping our industry with new technologies and major installations. Some to consider tracking are: #digitalsignage #AVTweeps
Create your own trending topic: Want to know if what you have to say is making an impact? Create a relevant hashtag and roll with it. This is happening right now on our company Twitter: @NanoLumens with #displayenvy.
Game on, hashtaggers.