If you had said the word "hashtag" to me a year ago, you would have been greeted with a glassy-eyed blank stare. "Hashtag game" might have led me to question your mental state. But now that I've been comfortably tweeting for about a year, hashtag games are a part of me. I think of them even when I'm not online. Yet, they aren't exactly witty out of context.
I don't know that I can define it effectively as I am in no way a Twitter expert. For me, it was more of a learn by doing sort of thing. At its most basic level, it's a word game, filled with clever puns. A hashtag (#, what many of us might recognize as a pound sign) is a way of tracking topics on Twitter. For example, I have been known to tweet thoughts about the TV show LOST. (As if you didn't know it was a TV show. Where have you been‽) If I add #LOST to the end of my tweet, that's a hashtag. Any tweeter can click on a hashtag and be shown all posts with that tag. That way you can find what other people are saying about a particular topic, or find other tweeters with similar interests.
But hashtags don't have to be so practical. They can also be used to find people who share your sense of humor. I've never started a game personally, but I've joined many. Someone is inspired (or possessed) to start a topic. I imagine they think of something random and post it, then hope it catches on. Tonight, I came across #puddingdialogue. Yes, you read that right. What on earth is "pudding dialogue"? I was drawing a blank. Until I read a few:
I don't know that I can define it effectively as I am in no way a Twitter expert. For me, it was more of a learn by doing sort of thing. At its most basic level, it's a word game, filled with clever puns. A hashtag (#, what many of us might recognize as a pound sign) is a way of tracking topics on Twitter. For example, I have been known to tweet thoughts about the TV show LOST. (As if you didn't know it was a TV show. Where have you been‽) If I add #LOST to the end of my tweet, that's a hashtag. Any tweeter can click on a hashtag and be shown all posts with that tag. That way you can find what other people are saying about a particular topic, or find other tweeters with similar interests.
But hashtags don't have to be so practical. They can also be used to find people who share your sense of humor. I've never started a game personally, but I've joined many. Someone is inspired (or possessed) to start a topic. I imagine they think of something random and post it, then hope it catches on. Tonight, I came across #puddingdialogue. Yes, you read that right. What on earth is "pudding dialogue"? I was drawing a blank. Until I read a few:
Guess I chose the wrong week to quit pudding.
Mr. DeMille! I'm ready for my pudding!
Go ahead, make my pudding.
Soylent Green is pudding!
Mr. DeMille! I'm ready for my pudding!
Go ahead, make my pudding.
Soylent Green is pudding!
See? It's just plain silliness. It's pudding...added to dialogue.
I did whip up a couple, too:
I did whip up a couple, too:
Nobody puts pudding in the corner.
Love means never having to say, "you're pudding!"
How many can I kill, Chino? How many and still have pudding left for me?
Other recent games include #decoratingsongs (Someone to Swatch Over Me, The Man Who Shortened Liberty's Valance), #piratesongs (Shake Your Booty, Peg Leggy Sue), and #meatmovies (Akeelah and the Beef, Kiss the Grills).
It's incredible how many people jump on the hashtag wagon at any moment. If you're busy, you don't have to play. Nobody will be offended by your absence. For me, it's fun to get my mind working that way, getting caught up in the goofiness. Helps me stay in touch with my creative side, even if it's just the bad pun part. And if someone retweets it (copies and shares your post with their followers), that's just like applause for me. Just a little validation that somebody else found worth in what I said.
It's not everyone's cup of tea, and that's perfectly OK. But I make myself chuckle, and that has to be a good thing.
Love means never having to say, "you're pudding!"
How many can I kill, Chino? How many and still have pudding left for me?
Other recent games include #decoratingsongs (Someone to Swatch Over Me, The Man Who Shortened Liberty's Valance), #piratesongs (Shake Your Booty, Peg Leggy Sue), and #meatmovies (Akeelah and the Beef, Kiss the Grills).
It's incredible how many people jump on the hashtag wagon at any moment. If you're busy, you don't have to play. Nobody will be offended by your absence. For me, it's fun to get my mind working that way, getting caught up in the goofiness. Helps me stay in touch with my creative side, even if it's just the bad pun part. And if someone retweets it (copies and shares your post with their followers), that's just like applause for me. Just a little validation that somebody else found worth in what I said.
It's not everyone's cup of tea, and that's perfectly OK. But I make myself chuckle, and that has to be a good thing.
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