#artsmgtchat

What Are Hashtags (#)?
Via Twitter Help Center

Definition: The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

Using hashtags to categorizing Tweets by keyword:

• People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords or phrases (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search.
• Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.
• Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet – at the beginning, middle, or end.
• Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

As you can see from the above definition, hashtags are important  Hashtags help increase the visibility of your tweets beyond your immediate followers. In addition, hashtags are great for finding content focused on a specific topic, like #nonprofit or #philanthropy. When I first entered the Twitterverse, one of the first questions I asked was: “what are some of the top arts hashtags that I can use?” Here are six hashtags I recommend every arts manager to use and follow:

#NAMPC
#NAMPC is a great hashtag to use for arts marketing, digital media and audience engagement tweets. #NAMPC (which stands for the  National Arts Marketing Project Conference) is a program of Americans for the Arts. Quick reminder:  The 2012 National Arts Marketing Project Conference will take place on November 9 -12 in Charlotte, NC (hope to see you there!).

#ARTSblog
This is another great hashtag from Americans for the Arts (AFTA). It’s generally used for tweets on various blog posts and articles that are published on ARTSblog (the official AFTA blog), in addition to arts and culture news from around the US.

#ArtsTech
#ArtsTech is a hashtag that is used by Arts Tech Meetup – New York City, and its goal is to explore the connection between technology /social media and the arts/culture sector. To learn more this Meetup group, click here.

#2amt
#2amt is the premier hashtag for theatres and theatre professionals. The 2amt website also features the #newplay hashtag, which connects to the conversation around the Arena Stage New Play Development Project and some of their programs. Click here to learn more.

#auddev
#auddev is a hashtag that was established by Shoshana Fanizza (consultant and blogger at Audience Development Specialists). If you want to learn about audience development/engagement, this hashtag is for you.

#ArtsEd
#ArtsEd is a good hashtag to use to learn about leading topics, news and articles in the arts education sphere.

Other hashtags that are utilized in the arts and culture community on Twitter include: #arts, #culture, #symphony and #opera. Arts managers for the most part use #artsmgmt and #artsadmin.

Museums also have several awesome hashtags– definitely a great resource for museum news!

• #musesocial – A hashtag and Twitter chat that focuses on what drives museums to participate in social media and why it matters.
• #futrchat – A hashtag and Twitter chat dedicated to a creating a discussion around the future of museums.
• #museumnext – MuseumNext is “Europe’s big conference on social and digital media for the museum sector.”

What other #arts hashtags do you use? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or tweet us at @artsmgtchat and use the hashtag #artsmgtchat.