Tag Archives: hashtags

My Trademark Texting Style

Posted on by
Reply

Just like anyone else in this modern era of communication I rely on text messaging…a lot. Also, just like most people, I have my own distinctive style of texting. If you are a close friend of mine, you most likely have a good grasp on how I text. But if you aren’t in my inner circle you probably don’t. No need to worry, I am here tonight to reveal my text messaging playbook. Here are the top five characteristics of a text messaging conversation with Brent Reser.

1. Impeccable Grammar/Spelling: Besides the add-ins and quirks you will see below that don’t abide with normal APA guidelines, I do my very best to text with strong attention to conventional detail. I spell words out, I use commas, and I make sure my sentences have agreement in them. My brother, sister, and I all play a game where if one of us catches the other committing a grammatical or spelling error in a text we send it right back to the violator without even addressing what they said.

I remember the major grammar/spelling rules when texting.

I remember the major grammar/spelling rules when texting.

2. Hashtags: It should come as no surprise to most of you that I hashtag the heck out of my text messages. As I work in social media for a living and as I liberally utilize hashtags in my handwritten conversations it only comes naturally that I take the time to incorporate several hashtags in my texts. I don’t do it just to be different though. I firmly believe in hashtags as the best punctuation mark that exists. The ability to summarize and express thoughts with the “pound sign” is a great technological advancement and I make no apologies about using it every chance I get.

Use hashtags as if they were going out of style.

Use hashtags as if they were going out of style.

3. Emoticons: As I have wrote about in detail before, I am a sucker for emoticons. In fact, I have come to rely on them even more since I wrote my post on the subject. Just like the hashtag, emoticons do a great job at conveying emotion and thoughts that you otherwise would not receive out of ordinary text. I enjoy using them in large quantities and at random. However, I also take time to place them in clever spots to make the perfect text as well. I absolutely abuse the faces and my general rule of thumb is that if you always at least stick a smiley face at the end of a text you can pretty much say anything you want.

Basically anything can pass if you put a smiley face at the end of it.

Basically anything can pass if you put a smiley face at the end of it.

4. CAPS: For whatever reason this puzzles people a lot but I usually mix in at least one all caps word in each text I send. I usually fully capitalize either the noun or verb (sometimes both) in many of my texts. It makes my messages stand out and kind of serves as my number one texting trademark.

For every text message I am a big proponent of at least one word in all caps.

For every text message I am a big proponent of at least one word in all caps.

5. Question Marks/Repeat Message: Sometimes I am not as patient as I would like. If I send someone a text message and I don’t get a response within five minutes I might pester that individual with a string of 20 question marks. If I am feeling really bored and maybe a little perturbed I will hit copy and paste a few times and fill up the person’s texting screen with question mark galore. If I want to really insult the person’s intelligence I will do the classic repeat text where I send the exact same message back to the person that I had sent five minutes before. Come on, we all know how stupid doing this is as obviously the person received the message the first time. However, it does do the job of getting across a sense of urgency. But in all honesty I don’t really do it because I am on pins and needles and expect an answer right away…rather, I do it just to be a jerk and pull the other person’s chain.

This is a very annoying tactic that should be used sparingly.

This is a very annoying tactic that should be used sparingly.

——–

Now don’t you just want to get in a long text messaging conversation with me? If you haven’t already put my number on your block list I will let you know that I am really not that bad. I will keep you entertained and always clearly communicate with while texting. Just please, don’t make me wait longer than five minutes for a response. Don’t Blink..

Tweeting Smart vs. Tweeting Dumb

Posted on by
Reply

I have noticed more and more that some prominent people and national companies have started to embrace the hashtag, tagging, and shorthand culture we live in through every message they send out via Twitter. While I cringe enough at seeing friends and tweens compose tweets that contain no full words yet plenty of @ and # symbols I become blown away when professionals and important entities do the same.

A part of me dies when I see a semi-celebrity tweet something out like this: Can’t wait 2 see @BigMan453 & @FlyGurl34 2nite! We b #helping a good cause. Cum #support da kidz! #charity . Or when a respectable organization sends something like this out: ICYMI..Tonite join us 2 #celebrate #CustomerAppreciationDay at the @MustardSeed. #Free apps and #fun. CU there! #DontMissIt.

Twitter users who adopt this style look unprofessional, sabotage their message, and demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of how the social media service works.

As I said above shorthand is cool for 12-year olds, not for companies. When I see a business that misspells “cause” as “cuz” or “little” as “lil” I question whether their websites and other marketing materials employ those spelling mechanics as well. Same thing goes for when I see a respected journalist opt with “nvm” in a tweet instead of “nevermind” or mindlessly decides to use #traveling in the middle of a tweet rather than just traveling. It makes me wonder whether he actually graduated from high school and if he is just having someone else write his columns. Bottom line, this type of usage makes the company or person look childish…also known as unprofessional.

Most damaging, the method of using shorthand in combination with numerous hashtags and tags severely dilutes a tweet. The number one goal of social media should be to communicate, not to confuse. When I look at a tweet that hashtags every other word, mentions three people by their unrecognizable Twitter handles, and uses far-fetched abbreviations my head wants to explode. Accounts that utilize this strategy in hopes of cramming extra information in or in an attempt to look cool actually obtain the complete opposite and totally sabotage their social media Twitter effort. By all means utilize hashtags and mention someone by his or her Twitter handle now and then but don’t overdo it. When composing tweets we should be asking ourselves how we can be as clear and concise as possible. This differs tremendously from trying to put in as much “stuff” as possible. To illustrate my point let me use an example from my industry. What tweet do you think is more impactful?…

UMGRIZZLIES: Griz basketball vs. Idaho St. TONIGHT – 7 p.m., Dahlberg Arena. Enjoy a free t-shirt and see Kareem Jamar score 1,000 career points #GoGriz

UMGRIZZLIES: #Griz bball vs. #ISU 2night – 7 p.m. in @DahlbergArena. Get ur free #tshirt and see @Reem5Racks score #1,000 career points #GoGriz

See what I mean? Sacrificing a few characters for a much more clean and concise tweet trumps a jumbled up, hashtag plagued ramble any day. In the above tweet I know who the Griz are playing, who is going to reach a milestone, and what I stand to gain by going. All that I know with the second tweet is that I never want the person behind that account teaching my future kids grammar.

Finally, Twitter users show incompetence by littering tweets with hashtags and mentions. People and companies looking to get more engagement and hoping to get others to stumble on their account through this method will be very disappointed. Followers are gained by informative, witty, and interactive tweets. Followers are gained by strategically using specific hashtags based on research and backed by a marketing campaign. Followers are gained by demonstrating to the audience that a competent and intelligent voice is behind the Twitter account. Followers are lost and/or never found by sloppy, desperate tweets.

Always strive to inform followers rather than overwhelm them. All organizations and prominent individuals should be able to figure out if a tweet is solid or a mess just by quickly glancing at it. Accounts that address followers in a logical and adult like manner will have more success than accounts that address followers as if they were a middle school student composing a text message. Don’t Blink.