If you’re new to Twitter you’ve probably seen a Twitter status or two that included something like #GDI. You may have wondered what the heck is going on. Well, we’re here not only to tell you about it (it’s called a hashtag), but how you can make the most out of it. Read on to start using the hashtag (#).

Share What’s on Your Mind

The hashtag is used as a way to announce to everyone what your post is about. If there is a hot topic or news story that you want to comment on, you can include a hashtag to declare your post topic. For example you could be sharing a story about the President and might end your post with the #obama hashtag. Once you include a hashtag, it will function on a sort of a link, if someone were to click on it, every other post on Twitter using that hashtag would come up in a new feed.

You can think of hashtags as a quick link to a feed on a topic, so that you or anyone else can follow a topic. You can also search for hashtags in the Twitter search bar, just search #obama and you would get the same feed results. If you keep this feed open it will continue to update with new posts. Following a hashtag is a great way to share your thoughts or see a live feed on a topic of your choosing. But you can also go one step further and be more interactive.

Get Involved in Live Events

Though it may seem just like an endless stream of chatter, Twitter can be a great interactive platform, and hashtags are one way to get in on the game. Twitter parties and live tweeting events are now happening frequently. A Twitter party or live tweeting event is usually a pre set event that allows anyone on Twitter to join in on the same conversation via a hashtag as the end of each post.

For example, a company may have a networking Twitter party where anyone who wants to get in on the conversation could end each post with #ABCIncParty. Following this tag as described above you can see everyone’s thoughts and comments and reply to them by posting a status with the designated party hashtag: #ABCIncParty. In the next new webinars, GDI will give you a chance to try this for yourself, you can use the #gdiwebinar hashtag during our live webinars to follow the topic live and chat with other affiliates on Twitter. So start interacting with those who hashtag about the things you want to talk about.