In case you didn’t know, I take my Instagram account very seriously. Okay, so not that seriously, but I do love having a theme and curating my very own little exhibit of art. Yes, that’s right, art. One of my favorite things about Instagram is the hashtag feature. Whether I want to find a new place to eat in Downtown Durham or looking for some style inspiration, the hashtags can give me all that in more with a quick search. Last year {literally what??}, Hannah and I started #swirlsocial which is a hashtag that bloggers and really anyone who follows us can use to share content and interact with each other.
Today I’m going to be talking all about why you should start a hashtag for your blog and where you can take it! I definitely have loved seeing everyone grow and becoming really invested [is that creepy? idk] in what everyone is doing in life! Let’s get to it!
It makes interacting with readers and other bloggers so much easier!
The best thing about the hashtag is that it makes finding the people who likely keep up with our blog and interact with our social media that much easier. Fun fact: I try to read or engage with everyone who posts with our hashtag. It’s actually helped me find a lot of new bloggers! It’s an awesome thing, really. I’m always really amazed when someone who isn’t a blogger uses our hashtag because hey, that’s cool right? I love responding and interacting with genuine comments and this is a great way to start conversations. You should be convinced to start your own just by this, because isn’t connecting with people really what it’s all about?!
It’s a great way to get organic exposure to your social media and blog.
So, I know that as a blogger, every once and a while I’ll comb through hashtags other bloggers are using in order to get more exposure using new methods! So, having your own hashtag is basically being on the other side of this. I’m sure some bloggers have scanned a block of hashtags and thought what in the world is #swirlsocial and clicked on it! You’ve just found a whole new world of college, lifestyle, and fashion bloggers who were probably similar to whoever you were following. But, since we also use our own hashtag, it also helps bring new people to our page!
Instagram can be such a cold place without a gang to back you up.
I have my go-to accounts that I love to leave silly comments on or just share their content like crazy!! I don’t know if this really came from starting #swirlsocial but having communities where it just seems organic to share each other’s content is so nice. The comparison trap is so real; but when you start to treat Insta as a social media and start caring more about interacting with others and appreciating the artistry behind your feed, it get’s to be so much more fun!
It’s fun looking through all the pictures and seeing how different everyone is!
By far one of the best things is getting to see all the fun pictures and how different they are to each other. We added a #SwirlSocial Instagram slider at the bottom of this page and let me tell you I love seeing how it changes everyday. Sometimes it’s bright and colorful, other’s it’s very dark and sultry! Mixing all the aesthetics of everyone that uses the hashtag is super fascinating to me! Idk, I told you I’m a weirdo!
Hopefully, I’ve convinced you that having a hashtag is so cool! Our hashtag is kind of a catch-all, because very much like our blog, we like to post about cooking, health, beauty & fashion, college, etc. We didn’t want to limit what you posted with our hashtag! I love travel-specific hashtags or fashion-specific hashtags. You can definitely choose something that goes with your brand and that’ll make even more of a difference for you!
Best of #SwirlSocial: May Picks!
Now, I get to choose some of my favorites from the past few months [I haven’t done one of these in a while!]. You’ll get to see some of my fav pictures and meet some new bloggers hopefully!
xo.
