Anyway… David, I respect what you’re saying. I’m an old fart though. Old farts complain.

Seeing hashtags that are abused like this as trending topics really makes me want to go on vacation.

It’s like you were at a pool party and then suddenly there are a bunch of people who showed up and started skinnydipping. Not cool.

Maybe it’s time to leave the party?

And on that note… This tweet made me smile:
“Writing a blog post about hashtags. #snarky #oldfart”

but your supposedly “correct” tweet?
“Writing a snarky blog post about the misuse of hashtags. I’m either lame or just an old fart.”

boooring… too many more of those and I’m reaching for the unfollow button.

I say this because they are a terrific example of how you can make data available and explicit, and after you have said data available can then come up with all sorts of zany ways to utilize it. Given the length limitations on tweets, there are very limited ways in which you can ‘mark up’ the message. Hashtags were thus born of this less-than-spoken concept of ‘make data explicit.’

The entire practice of SEO is another area where these concepts are borne witness to. Based on semantics, various weights are given. So when I say (please let character encoding ‘just work’):

<h1>My post on starfish</h1>
<p>The ocean has a plethora of wonderful creatures to be found within! Squid, Octopi, and even Starfish!</p>

Programs ‘in-the-know’ recognize that the focus of my post is not to define what a plethora is, nor to talk at length about the ocean itself; rather, it is to give voice to my thoughts regarding starfish.

Fifteen years ago, these concepts were not really given much attention. Now, however, they comprise a fairly lucrative industry! What I propose is that the principles behind these ideas and the use, overuse or even perceived misuse of twitter hashtags may fall under the same umbrella.

Perhaps it’s why you don’t follow me d=

I didn’t know it bothered people but now I’ll be more aware of it. I personally don’t do it anymore for humour purposes. I just do it because it entertains me. If that makes sense… I get tired of my boring ol’ plain tweets d=

I definitely follow a few people with the punchline hashtags. I occasionally have a laugh, but sometimes they’re just too much.

I understand where you’re coming from with the ‘lame old fart’ thoughts. That said, you’re, like, a year older than me, right? We have our 80s to be old farting around.

Also, what’s the ratio of valuable to pointless tweets from a particular user you follow? If there’s more on the pointless side, then there’s a handy unfollow button. You can always follow again if you miss their tweets. — I know you know this. Just sayin’.

Actually, my tag system here on my site is slightly different. Although one could search for these terms I generally use them for categorization. True, the metadata itself is redundant but they are not the same. The body is separate from the tags in every way. In a tweet, all you have is the body, so adding a redundant hashtag adds no value whatsoever while the tags on this post add value in other categorical ways.

BTW, the tags on this post are also meant to be part of the punchline. Hah.

I will further mention that all of the tags here listed are also in the post itself. If you applied your twitter logic to this instance, then it also would be redundant. However, they do in fact serve a purpose. They are a specialized part of the message that contain information that may be used in various ways by differing sources. Hashtags are materially the same.

Again, vacation might do the trick.

Right: ‘Drinking Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA #beer’
Awkward: ‘Drinking my favorite #beer’
Wrong: ‘Drinking some beer #drinking #beer’

Right: ‘I can’t believe Obama ate a 5lb. cheese burger! #politicaleatingcontest’
Wrong: ‘I had fun watching the Political Eating Contest #politicaleatingcontest’

Let the joke hash tags slide though, man!