Social media advice: How to choose the right hashtag, create better visual posts

How do you choose the right hashtag when promoting your work or otherwise trying to get attention on social media? If you’ve got the perfect hashtag but someone else starts using it for a different purpose, do you stay the course or switch? What about if you’ve got a hashtag going and then an industry giant starts using a different one for the same subject? Do you jump on their powerful bandwagon even if it means abandoning the equity you’ve built on your hashtag?

Paul Bradshaw, who teaches journalism and writes the Online Journalism Blog, wondered about those types of things, and he and his students set out to find some answers.

His post Tips on choosing the right Twitter hashtag: a tale of 5 hashtags sums up their findings, which are not one-size fits all, alas. You’ll have to decide for yourself if you want a hashtag that’s more popular, has better reach, has better targeted reach, or maybe just helps you establish a brand.

Bradshaw links to several tools that you can use to find data about your hashtags, including Hashtagify, Topsy and Tweetreach.

On a semi-related social-media note, Poynter offers 8 tips from Vox Media engagement editors for using visuals on social media. They’re aimed at news organizations, but useful even if you’re an individual who likes to create visual posts.