Twitter Hashtags: Which Ones to Use – and When

You’ve seen them on tweets, no doubt. The hashtags. They provide a way to group and organize tweets, to bring them front and center, and to enable one to participate in a discussion with the Twitter community at large.

In case you’re wondering about using some, but not sure which, I’ve compiled a list from which to choose. There are some specific to writing and tech writing, and many more general in nature. Try them out! I’ll probably add more tags to the list as time goes on; feel free to suggest others.

What I truly love about hashtags, though, is that you can make them be anything you want. Maybe it’s a one-time tag that’s very long. Maybe it’s a vent. Can be anything. As I noted in a tweet several weeks ago: #possibilitiesareendless.

Take a Break

Sometimes you just might want to take a few minutes and breathe a bit. Or think about something else for a moment. If so, these tags are for you.

#quotes
#haiku
#sarcasm
#notsarcasm

For Writers

A writer’s gotta write. Or talk about writing. Or read something creative or pensive or thought-provoking or anything at all. If that’s you, here are some good tags to peruse.

#writers
#story
#stories
#poetry
#haiku
#poem
#micropoetry
#nanowrimo

For Tech Writers

Technical writing (aka technical communication) is a specialized form of writing. There are rules and methodologies specific to the field.  These are some tags that tech writers might find useful.

#tw
#twtg
#techwtr
#techcomm
#techwriting
#STC
#stcorg
#DITA
#ehow
#howto

Social Media

Here are just a few to use as a starting point.

#socialmedia
#Twitter
#Facebook
#LinkedIn

Tech

There’s always something to keep up with. Here are a couple of main topics you can search for.

#security
#privacy

Late Nights or Early Mornings?

There’s a huge difference between those that can jump up and run out the door by 5 am and those that function best in the evenings and are up to see one day become the next. I imagine that most people can put themselves into one of these categories. To find your kindred spirits, try out these hashtags.

#nightowl
#earlybird

How’s Your Day?

Whether you’re signing off for the day, or just getting started, or anywhere in between, you might want to check out these tags. One of my favorites before signing off at night is #goodnight.

#goodnight 
#goodmorning
#goodday
#today

Greetings and Good Wishes

Want to celebrate or congratulate? Try these tags.

#happybirthday
#happyanniversary
#congrats
#kudos
#goodluck
#woohoo
#smile

On the Flip Side

Not everything always goes according to plan. When that occurs, these tags are for you.

#darn
#ohwell
#thatslife

Not Good

I’m sure there are variations of this tag. I’ll look for more.

#fail

Who To Follow?

Who do you recommend? Follow Friday started it off, I imagine. Every Friday you can make your suggestions to your followers. Anytime, you can use the #women2follow tag; I’ll look for others as well.

#followfriday
#ff
#women2follow