Priceless Hashtag. Thank you Rob Ford!

November 5, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

After our wonderful Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, finally admitted to doing crack, twitter exploded with his priceless gem of an excuse, ‘In a drunken stupor’

#Inadrunkenstupor is currently trending on Twitter and people are having lots of fun with it.  When a hashtag like this comes around it burns like a wildfire and people love it.  Usually these ones that take off are based on a slip of the tongue or a huge mistake like the one from our wonderful Mayor.

Imagine what a positive hashtag for your brand could do if it took off like this.  Doesn’t happen that often as it’s not usually the positive onesthat creates such a huge trend.  But we can still sit back and enjoy the power of a good hashtag!

Check out some of the good ones that are coming out right now:

I once entrusted my ex-gf with my password to FB, but chalk that up to being #inadrunkenstupor

I once ate 5 Big Mac’s in a row #inadrunkenstupor

Just renewed my Bomber season tickets! #inadrunkenstupor 😉

I got myself #inadrunkenstupor before an Echo & The Bunnymen concert & totally missed the show. Still pisses me off 28 years later.

Sometimes I make out w girls #inadrunkenstupor

I still believe the #torontomapleleafs can win a #stanleycup #inadrunkenstupor !

I drank Pepsi #inadrunkenstupor

Teens already getting #inadrunkenstupor tattoos instead of #yolo #TOpoli

I watched the Notebook #inadrunkenstupor

And there are just so many more.  Check out some other great ones on Huffington Post Canada or on BlogTO

In a drunken stupor

In a drunken stupor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Gossip, Life, People, Social Media, The World · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

You’ve reached your Hashtag limit.

October 20, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

I know I’ve previously written about how the hashtag can bring people together with similar interests plus it can be very useful when used right at events.  And these purposes are all great.  However, the other day I was explaining the correct use of hashtags to a friend and she asked if there was a limit to them in a tweet or Facebook post?  The answer is YES!  No question.  And there should be parameters put on what you can include after you type that powerful ‘#’.  But not everyone seems to understand that.

I thought I would test out my theory (not just mine) that people will throw a hashtag in front of just about anything.  So I just randomly put statements together and threw a hashtag in front of it and I found that these are actual ones that people have used.  Now more than just one person are using some of these, so they are almost a trend, but should they be?

#goingtogetdrunktonight

#myparentsarecrazy

#myroomissuchamess

#ihateallmyclothes

#iplantosleepallday

#lazingaroundthehouse

The question is why?  The last two were just included in a tweet by one person and no one else has used it, for good reason.  Do people think that their crafty and original way of putting a hashtag in front of a few words strung together, will start some big trend?  Here’s hoping for their sake. Tell me, what are some of the craziest hashtags that you’ve seen?

I think that the truly funny side of hashtags is the use of them on all words in a tweet.  You will even find that people put them on words like ‘for’, ‘some’, ‘a’ and various other prepositions, conjunctions and joining words.  Here some of the ones I found just by searching #some and #for.

Last day at work tommrrow ! #Finally #Can #Take #Some #Time #Off

Happy sunday ♥ Reminder: #dont #forget #to #save #some #time #for #Jesus!!!

#treat #candies #follow #pjsparty #for #fun #followme #hollowen #minnesota #mn #unitedstates

#me #selfie #specs #curly #hair #blue #eyes #day #out #bored #duckface #pout #for #a #laugh

Do these people have any idea what the purpose of the hashtag is?  What must Chris Messina (Hashtag Inventor) be thinking when he sees what has happened to his invention?

There is so much good that can come of using the hashtag correctly.  But it seems like, in many cases, it’s being used for evil (or annoyance) and not good.

Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake sum is up best, I feel.

 

 

Filed Under: Entertainment, Life, People, Social Media, Video · Tagged: , , , , ,

Hashtags truly do bring people together

May 24, 2013 by · 1 Comment

TweetHashtagWe know that the Hashtag (#) is used to bring people interested in, or searching for, a similar topic together online.  Maybe you are looking for info/conversation on #audi or maybe #mcdonalds or just the #followfriday or #FF.  This helps us as we search for similar areas of interest.

But, recently that little hashtag connecting me with a friend that I hadn’t seen in ages.  I was at the Canada 3.0 conference here in Toronto.  I decided to tweet about how much I enjoyed the social media presentation by Jason Townsend from NASA. In that tweet I included the event hashtag #cda30, which is normal practice at conferences/events these days.  And it was just because of that simple little hashtag that my friend, who unbeknownst to me, was at the same conference and following the hashtag of the event, connected with me.

Within minutes, I had a tweet from her informing me that she was also at the conference and that we should connect for lunch.  And that was it, a date for lunch that day was made.  A few more confirmation tweets back and forth and an hour later we were sitting down to lunch and catching up.  I know that this revelation isn’t new and it’s far from a unique situation, but I found it very interesting.

Did you know that the hashtag was only created on August 23, 2007, by Chris Messina.  Many people were not even on Twitter yet at that point, nor heard of this ‘Hashtag’.  Now this little number sign or hashtag can bring people together online and in person.

I think about the process that would have had to take place years ago to have made that lunch between two friends at the same conference happen.  It might have just happened because of a chance meeting of paths crossing.  But most likely, not at all.

Remember, it’s that simple act of tagging and hashtagging that can be life changing just through the connections that you can make.  Remember to do it, but do it well.

Thank you Chris Messina and your hashtag!

 

Filed Under: People, Social Media, The World · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,