Class Cloud

When I was first introduced to the idea of the hashtag, it seemed kind of silly and pointless to me. From my (limited) experience there was really no rhyme or reason to using a hashtag, it was just a fun thing that people did. Then I had a few experiences where I realized that hashtags could be useful; about a year ago I attended General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon/LDS) in Salt Lake City, I posted a picture of my friends and I on instagram and used #ldsconf, a hashtag widely associated with this conference, which then led to another account finding my picture and using it in a huge collage/post they made about General Conference.  Slowly I was beginning to understand the power of the hashtag. Then I went to class on Tuesday and learned so much more. 

Before class we were asked to make two posts on twitter: The first would be asking a question about social media, the second would involve tagging someone, and we were instructed to use #socmeddiscuss in both tweets. Then, we were instructed to make a post during class, also using #socmeddiscuss. The goal of this was to start a discussion and see what kind of involvement we could get. Before class I made the two posts (see here and here), but I was very skeptical at how well this experiment was going to go; I didn't think my posts would make a difference. While sitting in class I watched as my classmates favorited and responded to each others tweets. Some people tagged others from outside of the class, including celebrities, in an attempt to get others to engage in the conversation. I favorited a few tweets, but I was really at a loss as to what I should post. I was trying to think of celebrities or friends I could tag, when I thought of tagging Fight the New Drug (FTND), an anti-pornography movement that I support (learn more about them here). I posted the following tweet:

Shortly after posting that, FTND responded to my tweet. I then took their response, quoted it, and added #socmeddiscuss. The really cool thing is that after that they followed the hashtag to my professors post:

After finding that post they responded explaining how social media has helped their movement grow and spread. Then shortly after that they tweeted, something completely unrelated to the post I had tagged them in and the response they made to my professor, using #socmeddiscuss. 

Side note: The couple in the picture is my best friend and her boyfriend and that’s pretty cool. 

This experiment was so much more than I thought it was going to be and it taught me so much about social media! First, hashtags are powerful and useful. With the use of #socmeddiscuss our class was able to get people involved in a discussion about social media and it’s usefulness; some of these people weren't even in Logan, let alone the state of Utah. I found it so amazing that we were able to involve people from such a far distance in our discussion. Second, social media is really powerful and, if used in the correct way, can be very beneficial. Many of my classmates asked questions involving how they can use social media to help them professionally, and got some really good responses. Fight the New Drug pointed out that social media is how they were able to grow and spread as a movement. Another thing that this experiment taught me, was the keys to reaching out to people and/or organizations you want to get involved with. I was able to interact with Fight the New Drug because I used #socmeddiscuss, even after my initial post. Using relevant and meaningful hashtags makes you stand out and helps people to notice who you are.  

Social media is a powerful tool, and the hashtag is a powerful element within that. I got really excited about my interaction with Fight the New Drug through this experience, but beyond that I realized the true power that social media holds.