Memphis, Y U Not Use Hashtags?

What is a Hashtag?

• Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets. They're like tags on Flickr, only added inline to your post. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag.

What is a Hashtag?

• Hashtags were developed as a means to create “groupings” on Twitter, without having to change the basic service.

How they are used?

• They’re not the most beautiful things ever, but they’re pretty easy to use.

Good Old #FollowFriday #FF

Can be used for any event

#IranElection of 2009

#Egypt in 2011

The Power of Hashtag

• Allows “events” to be tracked from a single source.

• Speeds up information flow.

• Allows more people to add to the story.

The Boston “Snowpocalypse” Experiment

• Andrew Phillips at WBUR in Boston used the hashtag #ViewFromMyWindow to get listeners’ tweets about the storm.

• He received simple photos to serious issues and problems that needed to be address.

• Other media outlets and government agencies started to monitor the hashtag to get info and address those problems.

• Phillips is up for a Pulitzer.

The Memphis ProblemSend your photos and

problems to the Commercial Appeal!

No to us!

We want that!

So then….

WHAT PROBLEM?!?!

Information Is Golden

• If all of the information is scattered among numerous sources, we do not have a complete picture.

Have all outlets tap into and ADD to a single Source!

• Commercial Appeal, WREG, WMC, FOX13, etc. can use and ADD to the Hashtag Stream.

• Citizens and Government can use and add to the Hashtag Stream.

• A Mississippi River of Information!

Memphis and Snow

• Would have been nice to know where the problem roads were?

• Why is this road/bridge “salted”, but three blocks down it isn’t?

• Anyone open?

What could we fix with Hashtags?

• #memtraffic

• #mempothole

• #memsnow

• #princemongo

What it will take

• COMMUNITY!!!

• This has to come from the ground up and the others will follow.

• ReTweets and Follow Ups

This will make Memphis better!

So Let’s Make It Happen

Thanks for Your Time