Hashtags and the road to social embarrassment

Just a few weeks ago, I came across an update on Facebook that read something like this: '#Workout #at #the #gym - #bestfeelingever'. And this was before Facebook even hinted upon introducing hashtags! I wanted to know (for the mere satisfaction of my own intrigue) the rationale that went behind hash-tagging words like 'at' and 'the'. 

I mean how wrong had Chris Messinar (founder of the concept of hashtags, 2007) gone in conveying the hashtag story?! When it comes to a lot of people I know, it seems like he went pretty wrong.

 So this guy's answer to my question was that he posted that photo directly from Instagram and hence, the hashtags. But it still didn't answer the #at and #the! Never mind, I let him enjoy the sheer joy of adding that fancy sign wherever he wanted. 

I am no social media genius or hash-tagging queen, so I had to teach myself the art of hash-tagging a few months ago as well. So when I think of hashtags, I think of various clubs we had in school. You know how being popular was synonymous to being a part of all the cool groups in school? The more one participated, the easier it was to be noticed by like-minded people or for that matter anyone. 

According to me, it works the same way for the content you curate through various social platforms that support hashtags. If you want to make your content 'participate' in meaningful conversations or get 'noticed' by people who will possibly be searching for similar interests as yours; be my guest and hashtag all you want. But it is important to remember that while you are busy inventing meaningless hashtags on your own, especially using random names of people or sentences as long as Adriana Lima's legs; someone out there in the digital media landscape is having a good laugh! 

We all are aware of water surfing, isn't it? Think of hashtags as the waves surfers use to ride upon. Let your content ride upon existing available hashtags to have a smooth sail. So if you're up for the hashtag game, take a deep breather and repeat after me - 'Using a gazillion hashtags at once in a sentence will not make me rich or better than my ex's boyfriend/girlfriend.' 

Happy hash-tagging!