Social media is the present and future of connecting with others. The younger generations, some who have never known a world without Twitter and Facebook, are beginning to have an impact in all areas of life. Those generations have seen and experienced the benefits of being technologically linked together with others.
This is especially true when it comes to a hobby like LEGO. There is so much out there to see and experience that you will want to keep informed. Today, many popular social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest use hashtags, but these all came after its use on Twitter.
What is a hashtag?
The simplest way to describe a hashtag is to see one. It is a pound sign followed by a word or phrase. For example #blog. As for what it does, this is a form of short hand to help create categories within your context.
Keep in mind that a Tweet is 140 characters long. This means you don’t have the time or space to say how your message should be connected. Hashtags give you the ability to save character space while providing a tagging system to make it possible for people to find information.
Here are some of the most popular hashtags that involve the LEGO brand. They can be tracked to gauge popularity on sites like Hashtags.org.
- #LEGO
- #legofan
- #legomania
- #minifigure
Promoting an Event
Occasionally, a company or organization will use a hashtag to inform people about an event. In August 2013, LEGOLAND Discovery Center Toronto created a massive mosaic to advertise their products. In order to spread the word, they used the hashtag #brickbybrick to let people know. Those who found out came down and participated in building the massive sign.
Sometimes you have an ongoing event. A great example of this is Nottingham Post’s LEGO giveaway. Over the span of several weeks, they will be giving away free LEGO sets when you buy a paper at certain venders in Nottinghamshire. For those who want to follow this event, they can search for #NPlego.
Hashtags as an Expression
The other popular way that hashtags are used involves categorizing how you feel about something. Recently, the LEGO Movie had an expression that they made popular “Everything is Awesome.” This was a phrase filled with general happiness.
It didn’t take long for a hashtag to form around it. Now if you search for #everythingisawesome, you will find messages all surrounding positive experiences. It may have started as a LEGO based concept, but it has transcended meanings to represent things that just make you feel good.
Using Hashtags
Now that you’ve seen some examples of how hashtags are used, it’s time for you to use them. To do this, consider what you write. Think of a way to have space for the hashtag. This can either be at one end of your tweet or in the middle of the message. Once you do, this you will now have joined that conversation.
If you are more interested in searching for something, try starting general like #LEGO in your searches. Then look at what other hashtags are in the same tweets that have that particular hashtag. This is a great way to narrow your search gradually. Eventually, this may lead you to a post or tutorial you’ve heard about, but can’t remember where you remember it from. Chances are someone is talking about it.
Carlo Pandian is an adult fan of LEGO and freelance writer, and has previously published on The Brick Blogger, Bricks of The Death, and Socialyzer. Connect with him @carlopandian.
Credits:
Amazing LEGO® Brick Street Art – #BrickByBrick
#NPlego Nottingham Post
