The importance of Hashtags

So why are hashtags so important when posting something online?

From Wikipedia; what a Hashtag is:

Hashtags are words or phrases prefixed with the symbol #, a form of metadata tag. Short messages on microblogging social networking services such as Twitter, identi.ca or Google+ may be tagged by including one or more with multiple words concatenated, such as those in:
#Wikipedia is my favourite kind of #encyclopedia
Then, a person can search for the string #Wikipedia and this tagged word will appear in the search engine results. Such tags are case-insensitive.

Wikipedia

Basically it makes it easier for anyone online to find posts related to what they want to see/read about. And it's something I haven't thought much about until now. When Google+ first started out and everyone shared and commented on everyone else's posts the stream didn't seem so "full", and getting attention wasn't really a problem. However, now that G+ is open to everyone and the best photographers have over 100 000 followers and people are posting all over the place, getting noticed is actually getting harder and harder.

I haven't been all too active lately because of my health, but I have noticed that my posts weren't really getting any attention. Not like they used to a while ago anyways. But then I remembered hashtags. I've been seeing posts about it here and there (and being on Twitter have made me quite used to how it works), but I haven't been any good at keeping my posts updated with hashtags.

So after today's urban exploration I was going to publish a photograph (below) and thought to myself "I have to remember hashtags THIS time!", and I added a few (#urban #exploration #decay #ruin etc).

You can see the G+ post here.

Then: WHAM! the +1's and comments started raining in almost immediately!

Of course, it must be said that the published work needs to have quality too, otherwise all the hashtags in the world won't make you noticable, but you catch my drift.

So for my conclusion: Remember hashtags so you don't drown in the endless stream of information that just rushes by!

Google+: The Survival Guide for a Photographer’s Paradise v2.1 - by Colby Brown

NOTE: All this text is originally written by Colby Brown, and can be read in his blog (linked below). You should definately check out his blogpost about how to use G+.

http://www.colbybrownphotography.com/blog/google-the-survival-guide-for-a-photographers-paradise

I think there is no arguing, Google+ is the most engaging and interactive social network for photographers today. Many of us photo geeks have been waiting patiently for something like this to come along. After all the excitement about Google Buzz and Google Wave, both of which have turned out to be flops, we were let down. Forced to use Twitter and Facebook or Flickr and 500px, we had to make do with what was available. I know I am not alone when I say that while those networks have certainly been beneficial to my photography business, they were not easy to grow or interact with people in meaningful ways.

You see, for the most part, there are three types of individuals out there in the photography world:

Content Creators: Those that run a business and need avenues in order to create/share original content, photography work, ideas and services.

Inspiration Seekers: Those that are interested in photography and are just looking for inspiration.

Everyone Else: The vast majority of people that are somewhere in-between.

Each of these three types of “photographers” are looking for different things when it comes to which social network works for them. In the past, each group had to use a mix of all of the major networks and image sharing websites in order to fulfill their needs. That was then. This is now.

Google+…What is it?

Google + is unlike anything else out there on the market. It is an information/media streaming powerhouse. It is a system that thrives on the idea of interaction. It is a social network that takes what we know of social networks and throws it out the window. It is what what most of us have been waiting for.

The life blood of Google+ is the stream of information that flows through its system and shows up on your computer screen before you even knew it existed. When you first sign up, things look daunting. Nothing seems to be showing up in your stream and you might even be a little confused…I know I was. But unlike Twitter (which feels like you are trying to whisper during a music concert to get attention) or Facebook (where it feels like you have to fight your way into private clubs or try to create your own), Google+ forces you to expand your horizons and jump into the pool head first. At first you might connect with just a few of your friends, but through those connections you will meet more and more individuals that share your passions. As you continue to get entangled in the networking spiderweb of interactions and information, Google+ truly begins to reveal its potential. It isn’t built on the principle of a two way street, but rather a superhighway, where for once you get to direct the traffic.

Google+ appears to be rewriting the rules when it comes to social media. You can’t treat it like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr or 500px. While there is a learning curve at first, it is built on the simple idea of three core concepts.

Search
Social Interaction
Control

Google+ got its name because Google wanted it to become an extension of Google itself, whose foundation is based on searching for information. Over the years Google has worked hard to give you nearly all the tools to run both your online and real lives, from Gmail to Gchat, Calendar to Reader, Picasa to Google Docs. With G+, Google intends to bring all of the core features that most of us use everyday under one massive umbrella.




For more information, visit Colby Brown's blog here: http://www.colbybrownphotography.com/blog/google-the-survival-guide-for-a-photographers-paradise