hshtagsblog

[hshtagsblog]

It's official! Hshtags is now available on the App Store and Google Play with all the features included on the web platform. With our app at the tip of your fingers, it's even easier to keep track of the conversation around tags for an event or trending topic. Conveniently, search for your favorite tags on the couch or on the go and never miss a beat.

If you have any suggestions or find any issues, please let us know at support@hshtags.com.

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The first twelve: A trip down memory lane

Today, Hshtags turns one! It has been such a journey thus far, learning from our users and constantly rethinking the experience. As I reflect on the past twelve months, I’m amazed at how far we’ve come. So, it’s time to take a trip down memory lane through my eyes…

September 8, 2013 marks the first day Hshtags was put in front of users all over the world. I hyperventilated like a maniac the first day because it wasn’t a quick and seamless launch. It should have been live by 12am that morning but it took almost 2 hours to transfer the files to the production server, because I was naive to the whole process. Nevertheless, it launched, I grabbed a cider, sat on the couch and kept watch for any action or bugs that might pop up. The first day was a rush and my finger was glued to the refresh button as I watched users visit the site. The first few weeks after launch were spent checking my email constantly to make sure no one was having trouble, sending emails to all the social and tech blogs I followed and stalking my analytics account.

OCT  -  After getting feedback from friends, family and new users I decided to make a big update to the site in October which allowed users to search without signing up. It made all the difference as it attracted more users to search without any requirements.

NOV  -  Word of mouth is a powerful thing in the startup world and I learnt that first hand. The first big article review came from Molly McHugh over at Digital Trends(1) on November 20, 2013 followed by one from Barry Feldman on Social Media Today(2) within a couple days. I was ecstatic, because it shared like wildfire in a few hours and the responses were great.

DEC/JAN  -  As a developer, you are constantly rethinking your codebase and if given the opportunity, updating your code to be cleaner and more efficient. Throughout the Christmas holidays, I decided to rethink the structure of the front-end and started rewriting the code with Angular as the base. It solved a lot of the data-binding issues I had and made the codebase much smaller and manageable. In layman terms, I made the right decision. 

Did I mention Hshtags was Netted by the Webbys(3) while I was busy coding away!

FEB  -  Embeds are a commodity every social media platform has, so it quickly became a priority for Hshtags and was released mid February. It has been very popular amongst our users so I’m anxious to get started on the next update which will allow them to be more flexible and customizable.

MAR  -  Every other support email I’ve received were requests for access to an API that didn’t exist. However, this wasn’t the only reason I decided to build the API. Some of my future plans included live feeds and a mobile app, and they both didn’t need and couldn’t use the backend of the main web platform so I needed a solution that was state and language agnostic, so I began working on the first iteration of the Hshtags API.

I’m working on making it available for public use soon!

APR -  April 24, 2014 was the first time Hshtags was showcased in one of the world’s largest startup events, New York Tech Day and it was exhilarating. With two of my good friends, a surplus of branded materials and two interactive installations, Hshtags was booth #137(a number I will never forget). The number of people that stopped at our booth was more than I imagined. We received resumes, business cards, ideas and feedback all in the span of 8hrs and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.

MAY - Marija Kanazir from another prominent blog, The Branding Magazine(4) reviewed Hshtags in May while we were also invited to provide an article for the Launched in the Alley series on Alley Watch(5). It was a great opportunity to get our platform in front of prominent people in the startup world.

JUNE  -  One of the features that almost made the platform feel incomplete was the ability to respond inline to posts within a search results feed. It was a feature that had a few limitations based on the platforms that were supported but regardless I spent the month identifying those limitations and defining the experience. ‘Conversations’ was finally released on June 23, 2014, supporting 5 out of 8 platforms.

JULY  -  The #worldcup was one of the most trending hashtags from June to July and after the finals I wanted to share how the tag took over social media throughout those 4 weeks. The idea of ‘Hashtag Chronicles’(6) was born. It is a collection of posts tagged with a specific hashtag, from various social media platforms and curated by the Hshtags team. Relive a single hashtag in its moment of glory.

AUG  -  As the one year mark approached, I struggled with making a decision between two key product launches and the winner that emerged was the first official Hshtags App. The month of August was then spent redefining certain parts of the experience, so both the website and app would feel the same, and building the app. I am excited to announce that the Hshtags app will be released in the week of September 15, 2014!

And there you have it. An inside look into Hshtags and the first twelve months in beta. From features and site updates to reviews and trade shows, the platform has grown a lot over the past year and there is still much more in store. Bring it on year two!

Founder & CEO Kim Goulbourne

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[hshtagsblog]

Introducing Hashtag Chronicles

Hashtags come and go everyday. While some are more exciting than others, the impact on social media remains the same. We decided to create a space to relive the best moments of a single hashtag across multiple platforms. Introducing Hashtag Chronicles where every chronicle is curated by the team here at Hshtags.

In our first edition of Hashtag Chronicles, we took a look back at the 4 phenomenal weeks of the World Cup. We rounded up some of the funniest, weirdest, most interesting and emotional posts that were tagged with #WorldCup, along with possibly the most epic selfie of the entire month. Relive every moment, over and over again.

@mtkim508 via Instagram 

View the full chronicle here: chronicles.hshtags.com

[hshtagsblog]

Retweet, like or comment within a feed!

Introducing Conversations, the latest addition to our feature family! Now you are able to respond inline to posts within a feed. In this release, we are supporting the following platforms:

Twitter: Retweet, Favorite, Reply Instagram: Like Tumblr: Like, Reblog Flickr: Favorite, Comment Vimeo: Like, Comment

Here is an example of a tweet on Hshtags:

We hope you are as excited about this new addition as we are! If you come across any issues, please send us an email at support@hshtags.com. Let us know what you think!

As always, #RespectTheHashtag

[hshtagsblog]

World Cup 2014 kicks off with Brazil vs Croatia!

Don't miss out on the conversation around the first kickoff. Set your homepage to #WorldCup or #BraVsCro to stay up to date with the fans!

Here's how:

- Head to your settings page. - Under default homepage, type the tag of your choice. - Confirm this change with the 'Set Default Homepage' button.

That's it. Follow and join the conversation while enjoying the game!

Tip: Follow our Countries and Matches taglists to see who's playing and when.

[hshtagsblog]

NY TechDay 2014!

We made it through our first big expo! NY TechDay was an amazing experience. The foot traffic was unbelievable and it was great to see so many people loving our product. We received a lot of feedback from persons in various roles in the social media industry and even from those who weren't. There is much more in store for Hshtags this year and we are excited for the future. Stay tuned for our next expo appearance!

Photo: "The calm before the storm"

[hshtagsblog]

Weekend Hashtag Project with Instagram

In honor of Earth Day earlier this week, the goal this weekend is to go out and show your appreciation for our planet and document it through creative photos and videos, using the hashtag #WHPappreciateEarth. Check the Instagram blog for more details:  http://blog.instagram.com/post/83854428428/whp-118 Check out all the posts so far: http://hsht.gs/1tRww6v

[hshtagsblog]

Embed that tag!

Our first widget is now available for everyone to use! You can now embed any hashtag feed on your website, using our Embeddable Tag Search widget. There are three themes available: the Hshtags Salmon and Teal or a neutral grey.

Visit http://hshtags.com/widgets to create your own Embeddable Tag Search and as always, let us know what you think!

Happy Embedding!

[hshtagsblog]

A quick look into hshtags.com featuring the Founder and CEO, Kim Goulbourne.

[hshtagsblog]

We were Netted by the Webbys today!

"Five years ago, a “hashtag” was something you got at a diner or from your college roommate. These days, they’re all over Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and your 14-year-old cousin Luke actually uses it in sentences, which feels wrong..."

See more at: http://netted.net/2014/01/17/hshtags/

[hshtagsblog]

A Pocket full of tags

Apart from search, one other key part of Hshtags is the concept of lists. What are lists you ask? Think of lists as a pocket full of related tags. They allow for organization and a central place to save all of your favorite tags. There is no right or wrong kind of list as long as it makes sense to you. Here’s an example of what possible lists are:

Nike Brand Tags

#justdoit

#nike

#fuelband

ABC Primetime Shows

#scandal

#greysanatomy

#revenge

even tags associated with a certain show, eg. #huckstoolbox (from scandal)

What makes lists unique is the ability to view posts associated with all tags in the list as opposed to looking up one tag at a time. You can view your lists in the side nav or on your profile page.

What kinds of lists are you creating? Tweet them at us @thehshtagsteam. If we receive 50 lists, we will feature them in ‘Featured Lists’, a new section of our site to come.

As always, let us know how we’re doing at the.team@hshtags.com . If you come across any issues creating your lists or just have questions, let us know. Til then, #HappyTagging.

[hshtagsblog]

Youtube Posts, Account-free Search and More!

You spoke, we listened and here's our first update:

You no longer have to sign up to search but you have to login or sign up to follow tags and create or view lists. Signing up also gives you the ability to view posts from people in your network on each platform as we only return public posts.

Youtube posts have now been added to the results feed.

We have made the sign up process a little easier to understand and a step by step process.

We took note of the features you requested and are working to implement them in future updates.

Keep sending your feedback to the.team@hshtags.com, so we can continue to improve your experience!

[hshtagsblog]

Your favorite TV shows & their social streams.

Social conversations made easy through hashtags.

At first I was repulsed at the idea on having any social stream open while watching an episode of my favorite show but then I tried it. Why? Because I was intrigued at the concept of being able to track the conversation around the show especially during the premiere or finale. It’s sometimes entertaining yet can be annoying, especially if some mean person decides to spill spoilers. Regardless, it added to the experience so I kept at it.

  #greysanatomy (Twitter stream during the Season 10 premiere of Grey’s Anatomy)

What made this possible and what made it easy? Hashtags. Some people may stop reading by this point because they despise hashtags and that’s ok. They are so overused, misused and abused that by this point I’d prefer not to participate in any hashtags debate. But the fact still remains that they exist, they are a powerful marketing tool and an even more powerful conversation tool within the social sphere.

Now with regards to conversations around TV shows, they are an exciting and liberating way to share thoughts and opinions publicly and allowing others to respond. It’s always so interesting to see what someone else (who is not my friend) thinks of the show; their own personal reactions and opinions. Now sometimes I admit it’s distracting so I tend to open Twitter or Facebook in the commercial breaks but otherwise, I’m hooked.

Kim Goulbourne CEO & Founder

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"A breakdown of how Tide's #cleanwins hashtag campaign very quickly evolved, or rather devolved, after it launched."

Creating branded hashtags can either end up being a success or a complete mess. Regardless, they are still a go-to for brand marketing strategies.

http://digiday.com/brands/branded-hashtag-hijacking/

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