Hashtags. Twitter started the craze, then other sites followed. What has happened in the meantime is that they have become overused. To the point of comedy. Just look at a few tweets these days, hashtag orgasms are what some people are enjoying.
Alas, however, when companies or candidates use hashtags for the sake of using hashtags, the results are, at best, ineffective. At worst, they can backfire embarrassingly.
This month, JPMorgan Chase scrapped an attempt to engage Twitter users with the hashtag “#askJPM” after sarcastic and off-topic responses poured in. This brings to mind similar #fails by McDonald’s and BlackBerry, in which poorly conceived marketing strategies quickly inspired users across the Internet to lampoon their products and services.
Candidates, businesses and advertising firms that wish to boost their online presence or that of their clients can do two things to improve their approaches to social media.
If you are feeling down, perhaps a little blue, take a moment to search Twitter for the #askJPM hashtag. I promise you will feel much better.
A little overuse of the hashtag?
And one of the biggest lies in the universe, too: “Tweets are my own.” Not with those hashtags, buddy. You are bought and paid for by your employer as are “your” tweets.
For the love of all things holy, stop with the hashtag madness.
Thanks for the image, Darren.
Gregg Eldred 