Let’s Talk Twitter Hashtags

How do you search on Twitter for information about diabetes? What type of information are you looking for? How do you find the most relevant information? Today’s blog is dedicated to the Twitter hashtag (#) – a tool that will help you find what you are looking for using one of the most popular social media sites.

We’ve been hearing from our members that they want to use Twitter more effectively, but they don’t know how. For all our beginners out there, let’s start with the basic definition. The “#” symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. Hashtags help users find interesting or helpful tweets, join conversations around a specific topic, and find people who are interested in similar topics and conversations. 

Let’s look at an example. Today we tweeted, “The smallest #insulin syringe in the world. Watch the video tell us what you think. #diabetes http://youtu.be/c2SB0LrVeQg.” Notice the hashtags in front of the words “insulin” and “diabetes.” Those two words are now links to search results for all tweets containing “#Insulin” and “#Diabetes.” Check it out for yourself by clicking on “Diabetes” or “Insulin” to see their respective hashtag feeds. Stay tuned to our blog as we continue our conversation every week on Twitter and hashtag trends. Each week will take a deeper dive into how to use Twitter to help you manage your diabetes more effectively. For all you expert Twitter users out there, send us some of your favorite hashtags on Twitter and include #onedrop in your tweet. We’ll compile a list and then post a blog article with your favorite hashtags.

The decision to participate is always yours and your feedback is always wanted. At Calling All Types, we believe finding the right online resources to better manage your diabetes should be a whole lot easier! So sign up and be a part of our growing online health movement. Once you’ve joined, stay connected with us through Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and YouTube.