I just know you came to your computer or scrolled through your phone this morning thinking, ‘Hm, I’d like to find something meaningful to read. Enlightening. Perhaps even life changing?’
Well, friends, as always, you’ve come to the right place.
I’m tackling the oh-so-important topic of hashtags today.
Just so we are all on the same page, the hashtags I’m referring to are the ‘#’ + word/s seen on twitter, facebook and my favorite, instagram. However, they are also popping up in blog posts, text messages and everyday jargon. Yes, people are actually saying the word hashtag out loud before adding on a word or phrase. #guilty
The former serves a purpose. It actually links to other users using the same hashtag, so it’s easy to find postings discussing similar topics. Please note, however, it’s not always foolproof. I’ve searched the hashtag #6months before looking for other babies the same age as Kaitlyn, only to find lovey dovey pictures of 15 year olds in ‘true love’ and celebrating their 6 month anniversaries. #IusedtobeoneofyousoIcantpick
The latter is completely pointless. In fact, I can’t even understand well enough why people do it to be able to explain the phenomenon. #yetIstilldoittoo
Is the hashtag the new parenthesis? #Ithinkso
Now, the other thing about hashtags is that they are incredibly divisive. While some people (#me) <—See what I did there? find them entertaining, sometimes clever and occasionally useful, others find them to be downright obnoxious. In fact, I’m willing to bet those people have developed a tick just from reading this post. #Imsosorry
As much as I enjoy a good hashtag, and have even been guilty of using the ever annoying #fitmom #fitpregnancy (Yes, I am aware they are eye roll inducing, but they have led several people to find my blog and thus have served their purpose), there is a place I draw a line.
What? You have a line? After abusing hashtags throughout this entire post?
Yes, yes I do.
My line is limiting hashtags to 3 (ok, sometimes 4!) per instagram post.
#thestruggleisreal but I limit it because even I, a self-proclaimed hashtag admirer, develop a tick when I see a picture of dinner with every ingredient hashtagged. #canhashtagbeaverb?
But really…. #chicken #baked #italian #breadcrumbs #potatoes #roasted #coconutoil #saltandpepper #broccoli #steamed #lemon #dinner #healthy #healthyfood #eatitup #yum #paleo #notpaleobutclose #Instayum #instafood #mykidsateittoo #husbandapproved #followforafollow #likeforalike #pleasedoubleclick #reallyimdesperate
WHAAAA?!?!
Too much.
My personal favorite hashtag formula is to include 1 or 2 pertinent hashtags and maybe 1 clever one (if I can muster some wit).
Now for fun, let’s have a little hashtag practice on some recent iphone snaps.
#playgroup #chaos #11kidsandcounting
#6monthsold #instacute #repostbecauseIlovehersmilesomuch
#paleo#getinmahbelly #thankyouwholefoods
#imagination #freezingpowers #nanasrule
#newdeck #soclose #onlytook3timeslongerthantheytoldus
#lmbo #bachelorpartyshenanigans #fumanchu #husband #handsoffladies #instahottie #hemaykillme
…sigh, I guess some photos so require more than three hashtags.
Now you tell me…
Hashtags- love or hate?
How do you use them?
Lindsey @ Simply Lindsey says
I like hashtags and find a lot of them to be pretty funny, especially the original ones. Have you seen the Jimmy Fallon #hashtag video?? It’s HILARIOUS!
Katie says
This was a great, funny post for a Friday! That picture of David and his beard had me rolling. If I had facial hair I’d probably be tempted to play with it occasionally too. 😉
I think hashtags that are witty are funny and that a couple relevant ones are no big deal. The posts with a million hashtags as you mentioned make my head want to explode. Though I don’t often click on a hashtag to view other’s pictures, occasionally I’ve had strangers like my
Instagram pictures of my daughter and sometimes that freaks me out (generally when they’re profile picture might not be something I’d post online…say of the “revealing” nature…). Now I generally leave hashtags off my daughter’s pictures but will occasionally hashtag food. Which we all know is why Instagram was invented. 😉
Jenny Pittsburgh says
You missed #crackattack for that deck staining picture :). I like hashtags when they’re not over done. I hate when someone uses 85 of them and they all pretty much say the same thing. I think there should be a limit of 3. And, like twitter, there should be a character limit. 20-25 letters max. #justcaptionyourpicturewithanactualsentenceinsteadofmakingmedecipheryourlongwindedhashtag.
This was fun! Have a great weekend!
Julie says
LOL!
Kris says
#hashtaghate
Lauren says
Hashtags are such a crazy thing–I totally get them when it comes to grouping pictures together, like for weddings on Instagram. Other than that, the use of hashtags just has to be funny, otherwise what’s the point? 😉
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
I’m totally with you! I definitely limit mine to three. Sometimes if someone I follow uses a ridiculous amount I won’t even like the photo because I find it so annoying. #isthatmean?
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
This post made me LOL several times. 🙂 Yes, I use hashtags on IG to help others find my content and blog. Some hashtags are so overused that it is pointless to use them though (i.e., if somebody searches there are so many that your photo is like 1500th in the stream 30 seconds after posting it).
And it makes me chuckle when people SPEAK the word hashtag when talking about something.
Heather says
I rarely use hashtags, and when I do it’s only Instagram, typically so that way I can link to other people. It definitely drives me crazy when people use a ridiculous amount of hashtags, though. Why??? To me it just means a person is trying way too hard to be noticed and get followers, which I suppose I get. I blog and Instagram in my spare time, so it’s not a business for me and I’m not spending a lot of time getting readers – instead I welcome those random moments when someone finds me and we end up having something in common.
jen says
I’m so-so on hashtags. I do like reading them when they’re funny, and get annoyed when people put a zillion of them on their posts. I also feel totally inept when it comes to using them! #theymakemefeelold #imadork
Danica @ It's Progression says
It’s definitely a pet peeve of mine when people add 40 hashtags after every single instagram post – I honestly unfollow anyone that does! I mean, it can’t help them get *that* many more followers or anything.
erin says
While I find some hash tags pretty funny and enjoy their use for humor I am overall not a fan. My big gripe with them, particularly on instagram, is that if you hash tag something that could mean something else then you could have weird creeps stumbling upon your images. Not a big deal if it is a food image, but I don’t want pics of my kids ending up all over the place. I do agree though that there should only be a few per image when people overuse them I get annoyed.
Jo says
I love this for a Friday post! I was laughing while I read it. I’m a hashtag fan (useful for Instagram, entertaining when sending texts between friends and using them for no reason). Like everything else in life, it’s all about moderation. A couple hashtags per post is plenty.
LaToya\ says
#LMBO
I used hastags to death, I hate when people put a slew of them together though, I lose interest. I even hashtag everyday speech.
#coollikethat
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey says
#lovingthis
#weareonthesamepage
#ihatewheniseehashtagsthattherewillbenootherresultsforit
#commentfullofhashtags
Kimberly @ Healthy Strides says
YES. Not only do I hate reading all of the hashtags, I don’t understand how people have the patience to type them all on their phones. I want to post a photo and be done! #sorrysolazy
Oh, and I am so currently guilty of using #fitpregnancy.
Christy @TheMuddyApron says
My students say hashtag so much that it’s banned from my classroom.
I have to mention that I loved that coloring/cardboard house so much that I’ve convinced my daughter that she wants one for Christmas. Thanks for the idea.
C.
Alex @ get big, go to work says
I use to never really get hashtags until I got Instagram and Twitter. I find them so funny now. I am probably guilty of using too many from time to time, but I am in agreeance that they can be very overused. Every fit tag under the sun is probably a little unnecessary. I find your hashtags real clever and witty when they involve your girls and a seemingly challenging day. That part probably isn’t funny, but your hashtags always leave me smiling. Have a great weekend.
Brittany Greer says
Haha That last pic of David!! So funny. I think I’m exactly on the same page as you when it comes to hashtags. I am guilty of saying “hashtag” aloud in conversation, mostly just with my sister and sometimes my husband. I usually stick with 2-3 per post. It drives me crazy when I see 100 hashtags for every single word in a post. And, sometimes I wonder if people realize how they actually work, because they will split up key words to give them their own hashtags which then defeats the purpose in some cases…don’t know if that makes sense. I can’t think of a great example right now…maybe something like #eat #clean, when they should just use #eatclean.
Lindsay says
I cannot stand hashtags. This hatred likely stems from an acquaintance whom using them while speaking outloud to others. She sent us a Christmas card that had no other writing in it than 10 hashtags. It was awful….not to others…please don’t hashtag your handwritten Christmas cards!
Lindsay says
I cannot stand hashtags. This hatred likely stems from an acquaintance whom using them while speaking outloud to others. She sent us a Christmas card that had no other writing in it than 10 hashtags. It was awful….note to others…please don’t hashtag your handwritten Christmas cards!
Ashley @ My Food N Fitness Diaries says
I think hashtags are so fun. I’m the nerdy one that gets all excited when I can come up with clever ones. I’m definitely guilty of being one of those that lists tons of hashtags on IG photos, but hey, it gets people to my photos/account/blog. I do like to do it in a separate comment though so that it doesn’t take up a ton of room and get super obnoxious for people as they’re scrolling through. 😉
Laura @FitMamaLove says
Thanks for the deep, meaningful Friday post. 🙂 Really, though, thanks for the laugh. I used to find over hash tagging annoying, but then I realized what a great way it is to direct people to my blog and Instagram profile, so I jumped on the hashtag bandwagon. I now follow the trick I learned from Cassey Ho at BlogFest–put the long chain of hashtags in a comment below the photo description so that after a couple comments you won’t even be able to see it anymore. Genius! Except that my photos don’t usually get too many comments, so some of them are there for the long haul.
LaurenBrennan says
#hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha #lovethispost
Matt says
Love hashtags!
Kaitlyn @ Keeping up with Kaitlyn says
LOL this post is THE BEST!! I do love a good hashtag, but I’d agree on the 3-4 rule. And, like you, hash-tagging every ingredient is a bit much! Cool your jets people!