PRSA International Conference Gets Us All Atwitter – Over a Hashtag?!

Twitter does many things, but not *every*thing. IMHO, Twitter earns its reputation during live events as they unfold. From extreme but historic events like Iran’s Presidential Election Protests and the death of Michael Jackson to less substantive events like World Cup and just about every conference I’ve attended since early 2007, they all show in real time how useful and impactful Twitter can be.

The common discussion just before and at the beginning of an event is “What’s the Hashtag?” It’s the common thread that turns Twitter into an event communication channel, promotion tool, recording device and more for attendees, organizers and folks following from afar.

Just this post finds us spending more time than we’d ever imaging discussing event hashtags. It’s not rocket science. Is it an art form? I’ll argue it’s more of a detail than anything else.

“Hashtag Confusion”
It has also become a topic of conversation for the Public Relations Society of America this year as their annual, international conference gets underway. Why? Their hashtag is less than intuitive with an _underscore_ (one of the more dreaded characters to hit the Internet): #prsa_ic.

It has 2.0 practitioners like Kami Huyse asking valid questions while most folks are adding #prsa_ic and #prsa10 and others are just wondering wtf instead of wth. According to What the Hashtag, the official hashtag is gaining more traction. But I have to believe they’d benefit from an easier, more intuitive and shorter hashtag.

In fact, why not just use #PRSA? Twitter generates 12 terabytes of data – every day. 12TB! So Google telling me that Twitter search keeps tweets about a week starts to make sense. My point is, by the time PRSA11 rolls around, the only trace of PRSA10 tweets will be in a dusty stack at the Library of Congress.

This post is not intended to to be a Saturday morning, snark-injected rant towards PRSA – far from it. It’s inspired by a quote from the legendary basketball coach John Wooden:"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

Wooden is right. The simplest answer is usually the best one, per usual. Now get the tweet out of here! No hashtag for you!


Hashtag Nazi taken by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Comments

[Scott Abel]

Kevin: I'd like to reprint this article on my blog. I'd be happy to provide you with a byline, link to your site, photo, and promotional paragraph of text about you and your services. Let me know.

Scott Abel
The Content Wrangler
Http://www.thecontentwrangler.com
[email protected]

[KeithTrivitt]

I can't help but think this is a case of not being able to please all of the people all the time. While we undertsand the need to use specific and intuitive hashtags during real-time events, we also see ease-of-use benefits in differentiating PRSA's conferences, sections and programming with specialized hashtags. The #PRSA hashtag is widely used for all kinds of general news and information, and specialized hashtags help us reach and engage targeted audiences and develop metrics relevant to those events and programs.

We wish you could have been here, Kevin, but we're happy Ashley's here and appreciate the fact you're actively following along in real-time.

Keith Trivitt is Associate Director, PR, for PRSA.

[Mpranikoff]

Hey Kevin,

I just have a belief that is, "Just Say No to Underscores".

In my opinion, I don't think underscores are wise to use in hashtags or in twitter handles unless they are absolutely necessary. I advise that to a lot of the people that I work with regularly.

Michael Pranikoff
Global Director, Emerging Media for PR Newswire

[Dave Armon]

Well said, Kevin. I'll stick with #PRSA because anyone searching it will also find the other, longer hash tags. Of course, it doesn't work the other way. That means, the dummies who don't read your blog won't see my tweets. I'm cool with that.

[Kevin Dugan]

Dave & Michael: Hope you're having a great conference. I have to admit that I've spent a lot of time thinking about hash tags. It took me awhile to figure this out. And by figure out, I mean for the next five minutes. :-) On underscore, some folks find it's their only option to get their twitter name. But hashtags are another story.

Keith: I suspect you are having a great conference. I appreciate your comment and feedback. You bring up a good point. I always go back to the temporary nature of Twitter search. But you've got a lot more going on with your event so I can see your point.

Looking forward to seeing Ashley's posts. I know she's excited and will do a great job.

Scott: If you want to repost an excerpt and link back to the full post, that's fine. If you use the pic, just be sure to attribute that as I have as well.

[Kami Huyse]

I was surprised that the official hashtag was #prsa_ic, thought it was crazy. Agree that people should set up their search for #prsa, that will catch it all, or use sub-hashtags to keep in touch with the people they want too and cut the noise a bit. My sub will be #prsa10 ;-) Will miss you Kevin!