Lowcountry Geek

So #hashtags (better known as the pound or number sign) tend to be one of the most problematic issues for people first entering the world of Twitter.

What do they mean?

How do I use them?

How do I follow them?

How do I start one?

Those are all common questions. And most of those can be answered through Mashable's Guide to Twitter.

Mashable will teach you things like how to find, track and organize hashtags.

But I'd like to address another use of hashtags that's less popular but I find to be just as important: a clue as to what you're talking about when you send me a tweet.

Often I send out tweets and hours if not days later I'll get something sent my way that looks like "@irleslie yes" (for you Twitter novices out there the @irleslie means someone is responding to a past tweet of mine.)

So what am I supposed to make of this simple 'yes' response? Which of the 21 tweets I sent out over the past 3 days (according to How Often Do You Tweet I log about 7 tweets a day) are you responding to?

Was it the one when I asked if the black socks match the brown shoes? Or was it the one when I asked if the red cord was the one I needed to cut to disable the bomb? 

Both potential disasters waiting to happen.

If you simply #hashtag your response with #bomb, #StyleLaw or maybe even #jackbauer I should know what you're referring to.

So how do you know when to do this? Well in my opinion it's best to use a highly scientific formula that takes into account how you reply, the frequency of the Twitter user you're replying to and how much time passes before you reply.

For instance, if the person you're replying to doesn't tweet frequently then there's little chance the person doesn't know what you're replying to. Also, if your response is more specific than simply saying "yes" or "no" then I think you're in the clear. 

As for how much time has lapsed between when the tweet was sent and when you reply, I give it about 12 hours. If more than 12 hours pass I like to throw a hashtag on there to give the person a clue about what I'm referring to.

So there you have it. Ian's Twitter law No. 638. 

#ThanksForReading