I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t #understand #Twitter.
I understand Facebook. It makes sense to me. See what your
friends are up to by reading their posts and looking at their pictures. Visit
links to videos or articles that they recommend.
Here’s a typical Facebook post:
Text reading “Today at the beach,” under which are pictures
of their day at the beach. Simple.
What #doesntmakesense to me is #Twitter. #Whatisup with the
#weirdlooking #URL links? I am #afraidtoclick on anything that looks like “de/6ghrt.fde.”
How am I supposed to #knowwherethatgoes?
Here’s an actual #Twitter #tweet that showed up for me:
#airing Peter Gabriel - Big Time (via @brystelmy) srmdp.me/6h08Ddd
Huh? I think someone likes a #song, or is playing a #song
right now. I think. Maybe.
And #whatisup with the #hashtags? I understand that they
were originally meant to mark a word for searching, and they are still used for
that. If I search for a specific term, any tweet with that term hashtaged will
show up in my search. So you are hashtagging things to get other people to find
your tweets. What I don’t understand is why you are hoping that a complete
stranger will read that you loved the #waffles you just ate, and that they were
#soyummy. Are you secretly hoping that all the people on Twitter who like
#waffles will get together and form a #welovewafflesgroup?
The whole thing seems completely random to me. For instance,
Twitter just suggested that I check out #biosnackysprouts. I don’t know what
that means, and I am ultimately sure that I never expressed any interest in it,
whatever it may be.
It wouldn't be so bad if people were just hashtagging single
terms as a search tool like it was intended, but now they are inserting the
punch line to their witty posts in a hashtagged, no-space word string, so I
have to try and figure out what #idontlikespiders or #ilovesundayfunday means.
To make matters worse, I’m now seeing hashtags on Instagram
photos. I’m not even 100% sure what Instagram is, but I do know it didn’t need
hashtags. To make matters even worse,
people are also starting to put them in their Facebook posts. Facebook has jumped
on the hashtag search capability bandwagon, which I do not approve of one bit.
Hashtag if you must, but I still maintain that you just end
up looking like a really bad speller.
So, #tomorrow on the #fourthofjuly #julyfourth #4th
#4thofjuly #independenceday, when you #celebrate #celebratefreedom #celebrateyourfreedom,
please take a moment to consider freeing yourself from hashtags.
It would really go a long way to making the world a better
place.
Now, go #kissasoldier!
#Thanks! #Happyindependencedayeverybody!
#Seeyousoon,
#-Smidge
Copyright © 2013 Marc Schmatjen
Completely agree, Marc! #ihatehashtags
ReplyDelete#couldntagreemore
ReplyDelete