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Pinterest: Top Ten Tasks (and Power Tips)

May 26, 2014 By 4 Comments
Top Ten Pinterest Tasks

Top Ten Pinterest Tasks

You may have seen my previous post on Top Ten Twitter Terms. Here are the first tasks you should tackle on Pinterest. If you’re more advanced, skip to the “Power Tips.”

Set Up Your Profile

Fill out your profile. Go to “Settings” on the top right, scroll to Profile, upload your picture or avatar and fill out the “About You.” Connect your Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can invite friends at the top left of your home page. If you plan to sell on Pinterest, you’ll need to set up a business account.

Power Tip: Use Location for a short descriptive sentence, if you prefer. Make sure to click “save settings.”

Create Boards

Boards are how you organize pins on Pinterest. Choose an easy name for your boards—nothing fancy. For instance, Blogs, not Words Words Words, will be found easier. Create a category and description for each board. And, since Pinterest is a visual medium, make sure your board covers are pretty!

Power Tip: Create at least 5 boards of 5 pins each before you start following anyone. People want to know what your pins are like, and what your interests are before they’ll follow you.

Add Pins

A pin contains an image and description. Upload an image from your computer using the red plus icon at the top right of your Pinterest account, or use the Pinterest browser button, available from Pinterest.

Power Tip: Fill out each pin’s description completely. If you’re repinning, change the description to make it yours. Think about how people would search for that pin. For instance, if you’re pinning a watercolor painting, you could use the words, water color, painting, and art. You might also add the dominant colors and the topic, since people sometimes search that way.

Find Others to Follow

Pinterest is visual, so make your boards pretty!

Pinterest is visual, so make your boards pretty!

Click on the icon–which turns red when you hover over it–in the top left corner and you’ll see all kinds of categories. Explore your interests and find boards and pinners to follow.

Power Tip: You can follow a single board or an account. If you don’t like one or two boards, follow all, then unfollow the boards you don’t enjoy.

Repin

When you find a pin, either through search, or through discovery in your own stream, you can repin it. When you repin it, change the comment.

Power Tip: Click all the way through a pin to discover where the pin leads. If a pin leads nowhere or to spam, don’t repin. You can report spam and Pinterest is pretty good at removing it.

Like

A “like” is not as strong as a repin. You might “like” a pin rather than comment, if it’s outside your niche.

Comment

People rarely comment on Pinterest. It’s a very powerful way to be noticed by influencers.

Power Tip: If you want to be noticed, comment. You can ask questions or tag others in a comment, too.

Give Credit

Pinterest usually gives credit to the destination of the original pin. Authors and artists also appreciate getting credit.

Power Tip: If you don’t know whose image you’re repinning, you could ask your followers right in the comment of the pin, such as “Does anyone know whose image this is or have any more information?”

Know Your Audience

As with all other social media platforms, know what people are looking for. For instance, if you’re a spa owner you might also pin tips on relaxation, how to get good sleep, smoothie recipes, etc.

Power Tip:After awhile, you’ll get a feel for what your audience likes by what gets repinned. Repin more of the popular content.

Clean Up Boards

Occasionally, you can delete pins that don’t get much traffic.

Power Tip: At first, none of your pins may get much traffic. If you believe something will get traffic (but wasn’t seen the first time you pinned it), you can repin it to the top of the same board, and delete the one further down.

Did I Forget Anything?

Please let me know in the comments! Thanks!

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Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

May 13, 2014 By 10 Comments
Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

 

Recently, on our Women in Business Today Google Plus hangout on air, we talked with Chris Brogan about falling in love with not knowing. That in turn, led me to think about being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Working with startups is always an experiment with content, with new technology, with being an early adopter, and with making educated guesses. Apps and social media platforms come and go. And being uncomfortable means doing what others aren’t doing, or not fitting in sometimes.

Engagement

People are always asking me how to get new followers, how to get ROI, how to make money using social media. Here’s the big secret: focus on the SOCIAL, not the media. This goes for anybody. You already have the tools (especially if you’re a baby boomer). So talk to people. Be friendly. That’s the key to everything. As the old saying goes, “it’s simple, but not easy.” So if you’re on Pinterest, comment on pins. On Twitter, retweet and talk to people. On Facebook, chat with people. Rinse and repeat.

On Introversion

Being an introvert seems to be trendy these days. Susan Cain did a really neat TED Talk, The Power of Introverts and Women in Business Today, which I’m part of, talked about it on our Google Plus Hangout. A couple of things I really enjoyed about Susan Cain’s TED talk. Go to the wilderness. And this: Solitude matters. That really resonates for me. For an introvert, however, it’s talking with people–especially in large groups–that’s especially uncomfortable. And for an extrovert, hanging out alone or with just one or two people could be uncomfortable.

Eating the Frog

Eating the Frog

Eating the Frog

How many times have you heard that old adage to “eat the frog”? Some days you have to eat a lot of them before breakfast.  And being in a startup, you might be eating frogs all day long. Just when you’re the tiniest bit comfortable, along comes another frog.

Maintaining Focus Amidst Chaos

How do you maintain your focus every day? For me, the answer is writing. Lists and blogging help me clear my mind. The more I write, the more focused and calm I feel. This might go back to being an introvert. Maybe extroverts feel more balanced when they’re able to be around others and talk through their issues. What about you? How do you feel comfortable?

 

 

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Pinterest Influencers: Curating Pins

May 6, 2014 By 2 Comments

 

Pinterest Influencers: Curating Pins

Pinterest Influencers: Curating Pins

Pinterest, like other forms of social media, is somewhat like high school. Looks only get you so far; it’s the nature of your content, either good or bad, that will draw attention. But you may not always know what you should pin or not pin. And Pinterest, like Twitter, seems to reward those who post often, since it is through discovery that most people find others. But what should you pin? Here, then, are some ideas on pins that you could curate for your own brand.

Pin Your Own Content

For this example, let’s say that you are a garden shop. Your shop sells roses, fruit trees, and decorative plants of all kinds. Some boards you might want are: edible gardens, mulch, indoor plants, and flowers. You can pin your own pictures, you can post special garden events, and you can engage with those who comment on your pins. You probably want to keep your important boards near the top of your account, “above the fold” in website terms. Also, pay attention to making your board covers beautiful.

Do you have to keep all your pins limited to your own content, though? No!

Curate Pins from Strategic Partners

You can also pin from strategic partners. For a garden shop, that could mean a board about garden art, protecting honey bees, lotion for gardeners, and fancy-pants items such as special gloves. You want your followers to follow you because you curate the best pins–and those pins don’t have to be strictly about gardens or plants.

Amplify Your Message with Group Boards

Tulips One of Your Pinterest Boards Could be About Tulips

Tulips One of Your Pinterest Boards Could be About Tulips

You might want a group board shared by all your garden specialists, where everyone can add photos of successful gardens. Your clients can look at boards for ideas on which garden styles could work for them, too. Rather than looking at magazines, they can look at actual pictures from your own clients’ gardens. You can send pins or board locations to clients looking for a garden remodel. You might also want to join big gardening boards with lots of pinners, so long as they are active.

Sell from Your Website

Do you sell gloves, lotion, or greeting cards? You can pin right from your website or Etsy account. Be sure to fill out the pins’ descriptions completely, so that you can be found in search.

Secret Boards

Pinterest now allows you an unlimited number of secret boards, so why not use them to stage your pins? You may want to hold content back for pinning at optimal times or create boards for off-topic pins (rather than creating a personal account). And, if you’re pinning on a team, you can share secret boards with clients or team members.

Make it Pretty!

This might sound obvious, but make sure that your pins are beautiful. A beautiful image will make others want to follow you, repin from you, and want to engage with you more often. Curating the best content will keep people wanting to see more. And that’s good for you and your brand.

How Do You Curate?

Do you curate pins? How do you decide what to pin? I’d love to hear from you!

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Pinterest Place Boards: Tell a Story

March 27, 2014 By 4 Comments
Pinterest Place Boards: Tell A Story

Pinterest Place Boards: Tell A Story

People love stories. Stories are a way of making time stand still. All the world falls away when you’re listening to or reading a story. Did you know that you can create a story using a place board on Pinterest? Think back on those Day in the Life coffee table books. A Pinterest board can be used the same way. Here’s how.

Brain Dump

For this example, I’ll use my own Santa Cruz Daycation board. Write down everything you’d like to do in a single day. Put all the parts of the day in chronological order–I used a numbered list in a Word document to do this. Search for each item online and make sure that whatever you’re going to do is available and open for business. For instance, is the restaurant open? Can you zipline at that time of the day? Can you do yoga early in the morning?

Write Captions

Say something about each step of the day. If you love shoes, and you get to the shoe store 10 minutes before they close, that’s a “SQUEEE!!!” for sure. Rinse and repeat for each event. Add these to your Word doc. And when you’re writing those captions, consider how people search on Pinterest. Here are 18 Tips for Optimizing Your Images to Improve SEO, from Pam Dyer.

Repin or Use Your Own Image

Find Images or Use Your Own

Search within Pinterest, find already-existing photos, or use your own images. And remember, Pinterest is about beautiful images, so make it pretty!  Here’s a blog post I wrote about creating beautiful Pinterest covers.

Start Pinning!

Pin in reverse order from the end of the day to the beginning because the first pin will be at the bottom.

Location, Location, Location

For each pin, first click “Add to Map,” then choose the city. A map appears and will zoom into the city you just selected. Once you’ve found the city, click in the “What’s This Place Called” spot to find the location, and press enter to map it. Some locations will appear instantly while others may require more searching.

Review Your Captions

You can edit the text for each pin later if you like. For instance, I wanted more of a timeline for my place board, so I made sure to add that I was having breakfast, lunch, or dinner, without being too regimented with the times.

Have You Created a Place Board Yet?

What story would you like to tell? Leave me a comment below! And thank you.

 

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Pinterest: Secrets to Better Board Covers

February 27, 2014 By 14 Comments
Pinterest: Secrets to Better Board Covers

Pinterest: Secrets to Better Board Covers

One way to get more people to see your Pinterest boards is to change the board covers occasionally. Changing the cover image is a fairly easy way to get a whole new look, and you can still keep the same content on your boards. Here are some ways I like to make mine look fresh. By the way, if you’re a startup just getting started on Pinterest, you might want to read my Pinterest Tips for Startups.

Change Your Covers Every Month

I like to change board covers every month. You might have a favorite pin that isn’t getting enough traffic. Why not make that pin the cover for your board? While you’re at it, edit the text so that it’s easier to find in search (I love Pinterest’s search, by the way). Give some thought to your board covers–your pins might not go viral, but you’ll be rewarded with more likes and repins.

Use Seasonal Colors

February Pinterest Board Covers

February Pinterest Board Covers

I particularly like using the same color for board covers. For February, for instance, I used green. Since I’m a nature lover, I like to incorporate seasonal changes. Here in California, spring really begins in February, so I chose green for all my covers. Some people love black and white photography, so they always choose black and white. Winter could be white, Easter could be pastel, and so on.

Make Your Covers Tell a Story

What story would you like to tell? If you’re an animal lover, maybe you could have closeups of animal faces on your covers. You could make a visual story that moves from top to bottom, left to right. If you sell books about Python (the language) your covers could include a giant snake, that winds around the board covers, with the head at the top left and the tail at the bottom right. Or how about a simple white line across a black background? Pinterest is a visual medium, so there’s lots of room for creativity. Think of how Google changes up their Google doodles.

Create an Uncluttered Look

How about using similar imagery across all your board covers? A simple image, perhaps a circular theme, would be wonderfully zen. What if you took a simple texture from Flickr’s Creative Commons and wrote the name of your cover on it, and did that for each cover? For instance, Love, Simplicity, Organizing, Play?

Use Your Most Popular Pins

How about choosing your most repinned pins as your board covers to give your fans an idea of what they’ll find on a board? This is like crowd sourcing in a way.

Do You Change Your Board Covers?

What do you want your Pinterest account to convey?  Leave me a comment below!

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Time Management for Baby Boomers: Managing Social Media

January 9, 2014 By 6 Comments
Time Management for Baby Boomers

Time Management for Baby Boomers

If you’re a baby boomer, you probably have been to some of the time management classes, especially if the place you work ever offered free ones. Remember the Franklin Covey system with the binders and the page inserts? How about the Dale Carnegie training? Did you know that Tony Robbins offered time management courses, too? Just when you thought you knew the rules for time management, along comes social media and your previous attempts at managing your own time go right out the window! So what’s a boomer to do? Here’s how I handle my own social media.

Use the Basics Plus

Do you have a system that works for you? Or did you leave all that behind in the 90’s? If your system works, then by all means continue. But, when I began working in social media, I added some tools to better manage my time. For instance, I like using a hybrid system, with a zen timer app when I’m out of the office, along with an old-school egg timer for when I’m in the office. And I still carry an old-fashioned notebook and pen for my to-do list. Yes, maybe you’ve seen one in the museum!

Batching Tasks

Batching tasks works on social media as well as any day-to-day activities. For instance, you probably run all your errands at once to save wear and tear on the Prius. In my case, I do all my Twitter stuff first. I see who has mentioned me and who has followed me. I try to reply to everyone who has mentioned me (unless it’s in a huge, long list). If someone wants a conversation, I usually reply to those first. I also scroll through my timeline and try to engage with some “new” people each day by asking a question or retweeting or telling others to follow if I find something great. (And as a boomer, you’re quite good at engagement!)

Facebook

After Twitter, I head to Facebook and check all my conversations there. I don’t read each and every post, but scan. My Facebook is very dialed in and if you want to know how to do that, check this post here. I schedule right on Facebook (usually for that same day), not using a third-party app.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn, that most favorite spot of baby boomers, is a good place to engage. I like or comment on posts, and schedule posts through HootSuite Pro.

Pinterest

If women boomers are part of your audience, you need to be on Pinterest. I check my Pinterest for new followers, and see what’s getting repinned. Then I start pinning by scanning my Pinterest stream and also doing searches.

Blogging

Baby Boomers Have Excellent Writing Skills

Baby Boomers Have Excellent Writing Skills

Next I work on my blog. As a boomer, you probably have good writing skills, so a blog is a natural. Each day, I blog for at least 15 minutes, although that usually turns into 30 minutes or an hour.

Gym

Staying active is important to me, so I make time for it six times a week. Eating pie might be important to you. Whatever. With good time management, you can do the things that you care about.

Simple, But Not Easy

So there you have it. I like simple. What about you? Is your time management simple? Or do you need someone to help you? If you need someone to help, I know a person!

 

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Pinterest: 6 Steps to Going Viral

January 7, 2014 By 11 Comments
Pinterest: 6 Steps to Going Viral

Pinterest: 6 Steps to Going Viral

You’ve been on Pinterest for awhile now, pinning like a crazy person. Your pins, or those for your new startup, get liked and occasionally repinned, but nothing has ever gotten very popular, or achieved the success you’d really like. What can you do to increase your odds of a pin going viral, being repinned, liked, and commented upon? As an example, I’d like to use a pin from my Tiny Homes board. (If you click on the picture above, you’ll see the original article).

Disclaimer: Nothing can ensure a pin going viral. Sometimes the dumbest things catch on, while your carefully crafted posts die a sad, lonely death with nary a like. This article may only increase your chances. If you really want to go viral, send $10 million in unmarked bills and I’ll see what I can do.

Click Through

If you’re repinning from someone else’s account, make sure that the pin goes somewhere. That is to say, click enough times to see where the pin leads. Make sure that the pin does not lead to a Google search, or a website where there’s no more information, or **gasp** a 404 page. My pin goes to a fabulous site with an article about downsizing for a tiny home.

Read the Article at the Pin’s Origin

For pins that include an article, read the article all the way through before you repin it. Take note of a few things about the article. The point of this is so that you have something interesting to put in the caption. For instance, is the article funny? Is it thorough? Is it peculiar? Do you like the writing style?

Recap What You Liked

In my tiny homes pin, the writer uses an example of a clown car which cracks me up. So in my caption, under the pin, I write my own mini-review of the article, telling people why they might want to read the article. And be sure to give credit where credit is due–to the original author.

Post At a Good Time

Now that's a tiny house!

Now that’s a tiny house!

If you find an extremely good item to pin, save it for a good time. According to Social Media Examiner, pinning at different times of the night and day will help your pins be seen by local and global audiences. I like to pin on Sundays because that’s a very popular time in the U.S.; pinning at various times I’ve noticed that different people are online depending upon when I pin.

Comment on Your Own Pin and Respond to Comments

People love comments! And few people comment. So you can add comments to your own pin. And be sure to respond to any comments about the pin to keep the conversation going! This raises the popularity of the pin.

Repin Later

If your pin doesn’t catch on, you can repin the pin to the top of the board or even make it the cover pin. If there are no “likes” or repins at all, you could delete it completely and repin it at a later time. You can add more text to the caption, too (think about how you might search for such a pin yourself). You want people to be able to find your pin!

Have Your Pins Gone Viral?

Do you have any “pins gone wild,” which been repinned hundreds or thousands of times? Was that a complete surprise, or were you sure that they would be popular? One of my pins has been repinned 25 billion times! Ok, one of the previous sentences might be a slight exaggeration. Can you guess which one? As usual, leave your comments below!

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Baby Boomers: Social Media 101

December 5, 2013 By 6 Comments
telephone photo

Photo by H.L.I.T.

You’re a Baby Boomer, intent on learning about social media. That’s great! Now what? Well, you might learn from your friends, if they’re part of GenC, and connected. But more than likely, you will learn from someone else, perhaps a consultant, or from hands-on trial and error. First off, congratulations for deciding to learn. Secondly, social media is just a bunch of tools. You already have the knowledge you need–good manners, pacing, and emotional intelligence. Let me explain.

This post was inspired by a cartoon I saw recently, and retweeted:

LinkedIn

Remember your trusty Rolodex? You can still keep a Rolodex–if you like–but having all that information online is so much simpler. Plus, it gets updated automagically whenever someone changes their job, so you don’t have to use White Out. If there’s a good place for a Boomer to get started on social media, this is the place. The pacing is slower, and you only connect with whomever you want to talk to. And you’ve already got the good manners and mad listening skills.

Pinterest

Contrary to popular belief, Pinterest is quite easy. Pin things you like, just as you would on a vision board. On your boards, remove things that are outdated or that don’t get liked or repinned. Comment on other people’s pins (because nobody does that!), and you’ll stand out! If your audience is Boomer women, so much the better!

Facebook

Remember your trusty Rolodex?

Remember your trusty Rolodex?

For a boomer, Facebook is easy. Share authentic posts with your friends. Share a photo of something odd you saw during the day, or a thought you had. You can start by lurking if you want to learn. Then start to “like” your friends’ posts, comment, and finally, share things from your friends. You would never tell someone to buy your stuff on day one, because as a boomer you know about pacing! That’s pretty much all there is to it.

Skype

Skype is just a tool for talking, with video so you can see the other person. And since you are already a pro at using the phone, this is super easy. It’s like a chat with a neighbor over the back fence. With your advanced emotional intelligence, you have this nailed.

Twitter

Twitter is maybe the most advanced of the tools. You may need a little time to learn the lingo. But again, Twitter is just a tool to talk to people. As a boomer, you are a natural talker and know how to engage. Do not have Twitter phobia! With Twitter, you can connect to people all over the world, or in your neighborhood.

Are You A Boomer?

If you are, I’d like to say: don’t be intimidated! You already have the most important skill set, and with these new tools, you will be unstoppable! Don’t let anyone look down at you for checking out these new tools. Really.

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Secrets of the Social Media Circus

November 12, 2013 By 6 Comments
Social Media Clowns

Social Media Clowns

If social media is a circus, it’s populated by many types of clowns. You’ve probably run across a few of them. And if you haven’t run across any of them, maybe you are one of them. Just sayin’. Here are some of the ones I’ve seen. And by the way, this post was inspired by a tweet from Bridget Willard. Thank you Bridget!

Almost Silent Mimes

Many circus scholars would argue that the mime is not a clown at all. Au contraire, mon frere! And is it any coinkydink that the true French pronunciation of the word “mime” is meme? There’s just gotta be a clownspiracy in there somewhere unless I took a wrong turn and ended up in Clown Alley.

Do not accept balloon animals from mimes

Do not accept balloon animals from mimes

Silent clowns are clowns that you can’t really hear. They sometimes speak under their breath, but then pretend not to have said anything. They may comment on one of your Pinterest pins and mention someone else, and when asked about their comment, they don’t reply. Passive-aggression is a specialty of the Mime. Watch out for them, since they are the most difficult to “PIN” down (“get” that one?), and will always deny that they’re there. Also, don’t accept any balloon animals from them. And definitely don’t follow them on Pinterest!

Sad Clowns Say So Much

In contrast to the mime, the sad clown goes on and on. And on. They don’t care if anyone is even listening to them rant. The sad clown never shuts up in his anti-circus diatribe. If you try to talk to this lonely ringmaster, you will become a part of the sad clown’s rant, too. They can change the object of their grievance in less time than it takes to throw a pie. It’s less painful to jump off a tiny burning building through an empty stretcher or be shot out of a cannon than to listen to this rant. You’ve seen these guys overposting on Facebook, at all hours of the day and night. Do not get into the tiny car with this clown. There are already 25 other clowns in there.

Hobo Clowns

Akin to the Sad Clown, the Hobo Clown does whatever it takes to blame others for her woes so that she can avoid work and stay backstage at the circus. This sad sack believes that other clowns are to blame for her station in life. When the other clowns go out for a nutritious meal of cotton candy and Konfetti Koffee(tm), the Hobo Clown reaches down into her enormous pockets and pulls out the empty linings. Do not be tricked into paying the way for this Hobo! Unless you want to do us all a favor and buy her a one-way ticket back to Hoboken, that is.

Mean Scary Clowns

Do not get into this clown car

Do not get into this clown car

The mean scary clown might have a big, painted-on grin, but underneath beats the heart of pure evil. Maybe his wig is too tight or maybe his trick pants have a short circuit. Just because his clown tools aren’t adequate doesn’t mean he should take out his rage on others, but he does anyway because he’s evil. Do not accept a bouquet of wilted flowers from this clown. This is the clown on LinkedIn who sends you direct mail demanding help because his pants are on fire. Do not send your bank account number because this clown will steal your circus and take it to Nigeria. And that exploding cigar will take the entire clown fire brigade to extinguish.

More Clowns Are on Their Way

Clowns take a long time to go any place because they’re forever hitting each other on the head with frying pans or stopping to shop for tutus for their chihuahuas. More of them are on their way to you, so stay tuned! In the meantime, tell me what kinds you’ve seen in your social media! And do they frighten you?

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Hashtag Wins and #Fails

October 29, 2013 By 15 Comments
Hashtag Wins and #Fails

Hashtag Wins and #Fails

Recently, someone asked about hashtag etiquette. How do you use hashtags, and if you’re using them to do a search on Twitter, how do you know they’re legit? What’s the difference between a search done with a hashtag or without a hashtag? Would you use hashtags differently on Facebook than on Twitter?

What Is a Hashtag?

If you haven’t used a hashtag before, simply add a pound sign (#) before a word. On some platforms, that word now becomes searchable. It’s a great way to organize an idea. For example, #SanFrancisco, like so, is now a searchable term. You can click on it and you’ll see other tweets and posts (depending upon which platform you’re using). If you’re new (or even if you’re not), Mashable has an excellent Beginner’s Guide to Hashtags ~ recommended reading. That said, a hashtag can make a search easier.

Hashtags on Facebook

Let me say that I’m not a huge fan of hashtags on Facebook. Most people seem to overuse them and just annoy everyone. When Facebook allowed users to employ hashtags in June of 2013, they opened up a Pandora’s Box, in my opinion. People go crazy with them and they don’t mean anything. Most of the social media managers I know don’t use them and find them annoying in the forums where I’ve heard discussions. If you overuse hashtags on Facebook, you even run the risk of being hidden. And the last thing you want to do is be unfriended on Facebook.

Hashtags on Twitter

Hashtags on Twitter are a whole other ball of wax. Hashtags originated on Twitter, so they make sense on Twitter. You can use them to organize a search, to make a sarcastic remark, and more. Personally, I use Twitter for the occasional joking remark, and using hashtags in this way sometimes separates the newbies from more advanced tweeters. This use of hashtags is more for entertainment or to set the tone of a tweet.

Hashtags are useful in organizing Tweetchats, which are discussions about a certain topic, usually about an hour long, held on Twitter. For instance, #KidneyChats is on Mondays evenings and #POCChat on Monday mornings, are a couple I recommend. Used in this way, a hashtag lets you see what the other participants in a chat are discussing. And by the way, if you click on the embedded tweet, above, you can see some of the top tweets about #KidneyChat.

As a brand, a hashtag can be quite useful to add authority. Many brands have their own hashtags. They may also start a tweetchat using a hashtag to get people talking about a specific topic.

And in case you didn’t know, hashtags weren’t always a part of the Twitter lexicon. The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating article on how hashtags came to be.

Other Supported Platforms

Hashtags are used on Pinterest as a way of searching, just as they are on Twitter. On Instagram, certain hashtags are used specifically to describe photos. Google+ lets you search from Google to Facebook or Twitter using a hashtag, too.

How Do You Use Hashtags?

Do you like them? Find them irritating? Think they’re too nerdy? Let me know in the comments! Thanks!

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