I’m still writing up the series explaining Twitter in 3 posts. However, this is a common Twitter question that I would like to explain in more than 140 characters. If you have no idea what Twitter is, then you might want to check this post out.
Twitter users @AroundHarlem and @iluvblackwomen started an interesting conversation about how to find other black people on Twitter. After all, there were a few problems with the current system.
- A short bio that only allows 160 characters.
- Some people are uncomfortable putting up their own picture as an avatar.
- There’s no real easy way to search.
While ideas such as "creating a black twitter” group went around, even I didn’t like the idea. I mean, look what happened to BlackPlanet. So, the next idea called for using a hashtag as part of your twitter update. A hashtag is simply a tag that helps organize information.
#blck is a tag created at first with the idea that you can identify yourself as a “black person” on Twitter. However, I threw in an idea that it can also be use for black-related news and links. At first, they did not agree with it, but eventually, the community have spoken and started using #blck as a way to say “I’m black and I’m proud” as well as show some sites, videos, sayings or tweets of black-centric interest.
So, why is hashtags a good way to organize data on twitter? Here’s a good example:
Mumbai Attacks
November 26, 2008 references to Mumbai attacks start appearing in people’s Twitter updates as #mumbai. With this, people can search up any up-to-date information in regards to the Mambai attacks in India that happened during that day. Twitter, for one day, became a more valuable way of reporting the news as it happens.
However, keep in mind that hashtags can be abused by anyone. They can create a tag and they what they tweet about is not related at all. So, keep in mind when using a hashtag, be respectable.
Hashtags can also be used:
- At events if you are updating from one.
- Televisions shows.
- Items or people of interest to you.
- Disasters.
- Or just random things… like one I created for #iHate.
I used Twitter’s Search Engine to look up hashtags, but there are other ways of looking up hashtags.
And Hashtags can be used to form communities, such as this one:
www.blck.me was created to make it easier to follow the #blck tweets. To join the community and share your thoughts, you don’t need a secret hand shake or to join another site. Just type #blck along with your update. It’s that simple.
Thanks to @waynesutton and @iluvblackwomen, we now have a way of seeing updates from people who using the #blck hashtag. However, I do have one question:
Who’s going to explain how #blck is use and why we need to use it?
I guess we will never find that out. *rolls eyes n’ smiles*
Shout outs to Wayne Sutton for placing me as an interesting “#blck tweeple” to follow. 
In simple, layman’s terms, Twitter is a miro-blogging website. And what’s a “mirco-blog”? Take away mirco, and you’ll get “blog”, like Thought Remixer (a Wordpress-Powered Site), 
Smokey Robinson – A Black American
The great debate on what black people in America would call themselves. Smokey Robinson weights in on this issue during one of his visits to Def Poetry.