Topic: Hashtagging for TV

What is a hashtag and what is it used for?

According to www.hashtags.org a hashtag is “an easy way for Twitter users to categorize Tweets that share a common topic or belong to a particular group. The hashtag is used to highlight keywords or topics within a Tweet, and can be placed anywhere within a post.”

Hashtags are very helpful when you want to search Twitter for specific topics.

“Any Tweet posted on a public account can be searched by anyone, and posters often use hashtags to help direct searches to their posts. For example, Twitter users can elect to follow all Tweets that include the hashtag #WhiteSox to receive updates about the Chicago White Sox baseball team.”

I personally love hashtags and use them frequently. The most interesting thing I’ve noticed is that TV shows and movies are often using hashtags in their advertising to help create a “buzz” about the specific scenes or the premiere of a movie. Viewers enjoy the synchronized interactive experience they have created on Twitter.

The ABC Family Show, Pretty Little Liars, is the perfect example of this. While each new episode is airing, they show about 3-4 new hashtags that they want viewers to use in their tweets. This has made Pretty Little Liars the “#1 all-time for most comments for a cable drama season 3 premiere, according to Bluefin Signals. The ABC Family series' June 5 season premiere racked up a record 534,000 tweets during airtime." (source)

The sharp spikes in this graph correspond to the East Coast airings of new episodes. 

This next graph shows the tweeting zoomed in – showing that the majority of tweets about the show happen in the first 15-30 minutes before and after the airing of a new episode. 

Twitter.com keeps track of popular hashtags from the years. Some popular hashtags from 2012 include - #nowplaying, #throwbackthursday, #gop2012, #romney, #familyguy, #nfl, #thehungergames, #rickross, #hiphop, #ihop, #starbucks, #at&t, #iphone, #instagram, and #syria. 

Hashtags are a great way to search for any topic to find out what people are saying about it. They aren't only used on Twitter but also Instagram, Blogs and other social media outlets.