How to use Hashtags within Twitter and Instagram

Hashtags were created to organise social media. They are a very popular way of searching for a common topic and anyone can make one! From hashtags you can create communities for certain subjects whether that’s #theapprentice or #worldpeaceday.

Twitter hashtags are used to increase engagement on popular topics such as programmes or whether people are just celebrating that it is a Friday! #fridayfeeling. Hashtags can be as long as 140 characters and they also only allow numbers, letters and underscores but don’t support any other special characters. Twitter results are ranked by most popular or live which means you can see the tweets that have just been posted or the ones people are retweeting and favouriting the most.

Instagram hashtags also support numbers and underscores but no other special characters. You can add up to 30 hashtags within a post and can increase your following by using trending hashtags such as #tbt which stands for Throwback Thursday, this requires you to post an old picture of you or your team or office building. It is also a good idea to theme your Instagram by always using the same filter or sticking to the same trending hashtags every week which will give you more exposure each time you post. When thinking of hashtags for your photo, describe colours, what’s in the picture?, what’s your location? And add them all as a hashtag e.g. #greenleaves #Greenwichpark #pinkroses.