It’s fun watching the burgeoning popularity of Twitter. Hashtags are popping up in more and more television shows all the time. The WWE has been aggressive with its social media efforts, often posting different Twitter hashtags on its various television shows. Hell, one of Dolph Ziggler’s nicknames is the Hashtag Heel (#Heel). Last night I watched the first episode of Sergio Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. 24/7 and was surprised to see #ChavezMartinez pop up on the chyron throughout the show. Millions of people watched Kal Penn’s request to be labeled with the hashtag #SexyFace during the Democratic National Convention. I don’t watch a ton of television, but when I do I almost always see a Twitter hashtag used within the program.
I know that some of you use Twitter, while some of you can’t stand the social media service. What do you think of the mainstream use of Twitter hashtags? Are you surprised by how quickly Twitter went from a San Francisco Bay Area nerd tool to a global phenomenon that permeates all sorts of mainstream television programming? For you Twitter haters, does it bother you to see hashtags on television? Even as a longtime user and fan, I’m amazed by the service’s mercurial growth and by its mainstream use. Nerds win!
I use Twitter as a news aggregator of sorts. I sometimes talk to people on there. I have no idea what a hashtag is or what it means for something to trend. Whenever I feel the need to find something out, I go to Google instead of Twitter.
What is a hashtag and what is it good for? I see them all over. I’m old and confused.
So hashtags help people search and contribute. HBO is promoting its next big fight with #ChavezMartinez, so if you wanted to find more tweets about it then you’d click on the hashtag. If you had an interesting article or opinion to share about the fight then you can use the hashtag in your post.