The Power Of A Twitter Hashtag [Infographic]

Twitter is a social networking platform that I think many people at some point fall away from only to come back to it with a pair of fresh eyes. It’s a weird experience really. Facebook, on the other hand, people either like or don’t. I know a bunch of people who like it and a bunch of people who don’t. When it comes to Twitter, it’s always a mixed bag of everything all at once. The fact that the direct messages haven’t been working for ages might be a factor, and according to the Twitter blog, the developers over at Twitter are working on that. But there are a lot of things to love about Twitter that we usually don’t think about. One such thing is of course the Twitter hashtags. They are one of the most overlooked yet powerful factor of any tweet.

I recently read a seriously inspiring article about the power of Twitter hashtags, and it made me start thinking about Twitter again. I haven’t been very interactive on Twitter for a long time. It’s something that I really miss though. It’s been a combination of a full desk of work as well as an annoyance of Twitter not working properly that have kept me from interacting. Instead, I just mostly share articles that I think my followers might like, as well as stuff I have found useful. But after reading that article about Twitter hashtags, I once again felt like I wanted to take Twitter to a new level. We’ll see if I am able to once again get into it all, and if I can stay frequent with it. The inspiration has once again been spawned, thanks to this article about Twitter hashtags.

The article I read was how a girl named Linda Cheung accidentally hijacked a hashtag and made it more popular than the hashtags actual real life event. To simplify the story (which you can read in its entirety over at Marketing Donut), Linda couldn’t go to the LEX conference which also included a tweetup with Brian Inkster, someone Linda really wanted to meet. So they decided to informally meet on Twitter instead using the Twitter hashtag #LEX2011. Long story short, the hashtag was joined by more and more of Linda’s and Brian’s followers and quickly became more popular than the event itself. It later went viral, and what started with an informal introduction between two people soon became a viral success.

That is the power of a Twitter hashtag that I think is important to understand. With hashtags, we can reach people that we normally wouldn’t get introduced to or have in our body of followers. It’s ultimately inspiring to know that a simple Twitter hashtag can create such a buzz and at the same time keep it close and personal. Twitter is unique in that sense. Twitter hashtags are something that every business should have a look at and really embrace in their attempt to get a discussion going.

In order to ease you into the concept of using hashtags for business as well as for personal branding, I would like to share an infographic that will help you grasp the concept of a Twitter hashtag. Maybe you would like to start using them to your advantage. The infographic (presented by Social Caffeine) called What You Need To Know About Twitter Hashtags is a great introduction to the power of hashtags in general. Hashtags have of course been available for a long time, and their use has been widely known. But, I think people have forgotten about the power of a good hashtag and how to really utilize it in their attempt to make people aware of what they have to say and share.

Take a good look at this infographic and soak in all the information about Twitter hashtags, and I assure you that soon you will be rolling in great hashtags and reach a far bigger crowd than you thought was ever possible. Instead of slowly growing your following, you can reach millions of people instantly with the simple use of Twitter hashtags instead. Don’t miss out on this epic feature that Twitter, for once, got right the first time around.