Hash Tags

Have you noticed on Twitter that people sometimes use a # sign in front of words? That # sign is called a “hashtag”. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with the hash (#) symbol, for example, #balloonboy

So what does that hashtag actually do? Hashtags create real time track records of words, events, groups, etc on twitter. They make it easier to track all conversations in the twitter via search. You can find what other Twitterers who use that hashtag in their post are saying about a particular topic.

One of the most notable uses for hashtags was during the San Diego forest fires in 2007 when Nate Ritter used the hashtag "#sandiegofire" to identify his updates related to the disaster. See this post “How Geeks Can Help in Disasters”. People around the country followed what was happening on the ground.

A great educational use for hastags is to find out what other teachers have to say about #utahhistory, #civilwar, #mathtricks, etc.

Type in any hashtag. If somebody has used it in a post, you will see what they had to say. Have fun!