I love two things about Twitter. Live search results, and the ability to connect with groups of people. Twitter’s roots as a tool to stay in touch at the SXSW conference remain strong – and I still find that its the most useful way to use it. I can search any topic or hashtag that I want, and see real time results on that topic. I use twitter search to stay up to date on what’s happening in the world – whether it’s Sustainable Business, Egypt, the NBA trade deadline, or Social Entrepreneurs. I stay current by setting up Tweetdeck (or other Twitter platforms) saved searches and checking throughout the day. The #BTV hashtag for Burlington, Vermont is one of my favorite saved searches.
Why? Well, to start with, there is an amazing community in Burlington (and Vermont). There is something about living here that is unique and creates a shared experience. Our population numbers are also relatively low, so it’s relatively easy to get to know people that you have something in common with, as you’ll see them more than once. We all share a connection to our landscape – from the Green Mountains to Lake Champlain. I don’t think it’s an accident that Vermont has always been a leader in socially and environmentally responsible business. We have the one of the oldest and strongest groups of businesses committed to making the world a better place. There is just something special about the VT community. It seems like nobody wants to screw that up.
Using the local #btv hashtag by adding it to my posts that are relevant to Burlington and also following it as a saved search during the day allows me to:
- Find out about local events
- Find out about great deals happening at local shops (and share those with friends)
- Connect with new people
- Build stronger connections with “acquaintances”
- Share information that I think is helpful to the local community
- Stay on top of local issues
- Be more connected to the place that I live
There are a number of different ways to use Twitter to be more connected to your local community. I think that using community hashtags, as we do in the #BTV, will become common practice as more and more people use Twitter.
The beauty of the local hashtag, if it’s supported by a strong community, is that it is totally self-organizing. If someone starts misusing the hashtag, either by posting stuff that isn’t relevant, or auto-posting the same message over and over trying to sell something, the community will let that person know their behavior is inappropriate, and it stops. It’s amazing stuff. We even recently started sharing the hashtag (hopefully temporarily!) with the TV station in Bahrain. After some initial bumps and confusion, everyone seemed to agree to just get along. Good stuff.
Does your community have a hashtag? Do you follow it? Does your community rock as much as the #BTV?