I’m not on Twitter. I don’t have any particular philosophical objection to it, I’ve just never joined.
That said, I’m bewildered by how often a TV show (or COMMERCIAL!!) will stick a random hashtag on the screen expecting people to comment on it. And not just something like “#GameOfThrones” for an episode of Game of Thrones, but things like “#SleepWithYourBestie” or “#SuperCleaningPower” or whatnot.
Is this a situation where I (a 40 year old man) am just totally out of it and those hashtags are popular and beloved and useful? Or does everyone just roll their eyes at them and wish they would go away?
I searched a couple of the hashtags that appear on the screen during Survivor, and I got TONS of results. I rarely use my Twitter account and it wouldn’t even occur to me to tweet during a TV show, but apparently a lot of people do this. Hashtags are evidently a smart, easy way to generate buzz for a show.
I can’t recall seeing hashtags in TV commercials, but I don’t doubt they are there too.
It’s the same reason Cheerios has a Facebook page. 10% smart marketing; 90% meaningless buzz and chasing fads.
Often whoever runs the show’s twitter account or one or two of the stars of the show will respond to tweets that used the hashtag. So if there’s a celebrity you like, if you tweet with their hashtags, you might get a retweet, response, favorite or rarely a followback.