What's the Difference Between a Hashtag and a Handle
Every social media platform has its own lingo (You “friend” someone on Facebook, “follow” someone on Twitter, and “connect” with someone on LinkedIn.) There are a couple of terms that overlap with many of the platforms and cause confusion. Keep reading so we can define them and you can be sure to use it correctly when you’re talking about your work on social media.
Okay, I have not written a musical called Hashtags and Handles - yet. But when I do, the opening number would be called "Come on and Follow Me" with a mass of truckers tweeting while doing the grapevine and singing in five part harmony. Note: seriously, please don't steal this idea. I may still write this musical.
That said, I've worked with a few different clients in the past month alone who were not clear on what a hashtag is and they were throwing it around incorrectly and causing confusion - mostly for themselves. So here's a very basic explanation of what a hashtag is, what a handle is, and how you use them.
@ = Your Handle or Account Name
When you see the @ symbol it’s an account name. Rarely referred to as a handle, but shouldn’t it be, really? I mean,isn't it fun to talk about handles? It's like we're truckers back in the day. Truckers had CB radios and handles to identify themselves to one another since they may never actually meet in person. On Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat you also have handles to identify yourself. Some people choose handles that make sense with their actual names (my Twitter handle is @annieschiff, for example), others get more playful (on Snapchat I know someone with an account that is just a letter and a flag emoji). Either way, people will use your handle to reach you. You will use your handle to reach out. Just like a CB radio.
If I were telling people how they could find me on Twitter, I'd say,
"Oh yeah. I'm on Twitter. I’m @AnnieSchiff."
And if I were writing it in an email, I'd say,
"Oh yeah. I'm on Twitter. I’m @AnnieSchiff."
Anyway, the term that gets used is an account name. But I want it to be handle. Can we make that a thing? You and I?
# = Hashtag
I'm not sure why some punctuation marks have multiple names while others don’t (I'm looking at you "<" and ">"). But what was known as the number sign and then the pound sign has taken on a new name as the hashtag. Hashtags have the most relevance on Instagram and Twitter. Imagine the Internet as a file cabinet. If you were to print out your tweet and put it in a file folder, the hashtag would be how you'd label the folder. For example, I could tweet:
"Perfect is the enemy of the good." #quotes #perfectionism #WordsToLiveBy #NotSureWhoSaidIt
This way, if someone is searching for tweets with quotes or tweets about perfectionism or even words to live by, my tweet would be in the pile along with all of the other tweets with that same hashtag.
The top posts on Instagram for #GilbertandSullivan.
Hashtags are useful so that when you are looking to connect with people - maybe lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan - you could search #gilbertandsullivan on Instagram and find nearly 9000 posts about that very subject. On the flip side, if you're doing Pirates of Penzance, you would want to include #gilbertandsullivan in the captions of your photos so poor wandering ones could find your pictures easier.
Update: Hashtags come and go in importance on Facebook and LinkedIn, but since writing this TikTok has taken over the internet and it certainly uses hashtags.
#ProTips
Just like with your email address or website, capitalization doesn't matter. Although it may make the text easier to read.
Update: According to PerkinsAccess.org, capitalize the first letter of each work in the hashtag. Here’s why:
It’s important to capitalize the first letter of each word in your hashtag. Why? When the first letter of each word is capitalized, screen readers are much more likely to read the hashtag as intended vs. reading it as one, long and jumbled word. In addition to helping visually impaired screen reader users, capitalizing each word benefits anyone who may not be able to easily identify the patterns and relationships between words, such as someone with dyslexia or a cognitive disability. For example, #socialmediatips is not as easy to read as #SocialMediaTips.
For example, seeing this hashtag #maybenever could look like "May ben ever." But typing #MaybeNever would be clearer to read. Either way, though, if you used that hashtag and people searched for it your posts would still be included in the list no matter how it’s capitalized.
Also, keep in mind that hashtags can't have punctuation. If you put in punctuation - like to say #I'msorrynotsorry - the search engines would see it as #I. So keep your tags punctuation-free.
✅ #AGoodTip
❌ #It’sAGoodTip
Come to think of it, no wonder younger generations struggle with capitalization and punctuation!
Start using your “Hashtags” (and “Handles”?) today!
Now that you’ve gotten a quick primer in the difference between a hashtag and a handle, now is the time to use them! You can confidently talk to your social media team and know that you are using the correct words. Not only that, but you can start using hashtags yourself!
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