1. When I am looking into something new, I, like many, start with google. 
   
   
   It is a quick way to get initial answers to your question. 
   
   
   I am re addressing where I am with social media and where I want to be. 
   
   
   Today it is a simple and quick google Q and A: what is a hashtag and how does it work.
   
   
   Here is what I found out and where I found it:

   tag: A word or phrase preceded by a hash mark (#), used within a message to identify a keyword or topic of interest and facilitate a search for it. So whenever a user adds a hashtag to their post, it is immediately indexed by the social network and searchable by other users.15 Aug 2014 #google explained 

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   Taken from: http://techforluddites.com
   
   

   “A hashtag is simply a way for people to search for tweets that have a common topic. For example, if you type #Gravity (or #gravity or #GraVItY, because it’s not case-sensitive) into the Search Twitter box at the top of any Twitter page and hit Enter, you’ll get a list of tweets related to the movie. What you won’t get are tweets that say “Who discovered gravity?” because “gravity” isn’t preceded by the hashtag  

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   Taken from: http://mashable.com/

“Which characters can you include in a #hashtag? 
For starters, spaces are an absolute no-no. Even if your hashtag contains multiple words, group them all together. If you want to differentiate between words, use capitals instead (#BlueJasmine). Uppercase letters will not alter your search results, so searching for #BlueJasmine will yield the same results as #bluejasmine.
Numbers are supported, so tweet about #50ShadesOfGrey to your heart’s content. However, punctuation marks are not, so commas, periods, exclamation points, question marks and apostrophes are out. Forget about asterisks, ampersands or any other special characters.
Keep in mind that the @ symbol does something completely different. Using @ before a person’s Twitter handle will tweet at him directly, letting him know you have written to him via the @Connect tab. A hashtag will not. Sometimes users will hashtag a celebrity’s name instead of using her Twitter handle — it is acceptable to tweet #Lorde or @lordemusic. But if you are trying to reach someone directly, don’t use a hashtag.
There is no preset list of hashtags. Create a brand new hashtag simply by putting the hash before a series of words, and if it hasn’t been used before, voilà! You’ve invented a hashtag.” 

 

Thanks to the websites for sharing and educating me!

©www.sophiemayer.com 2015