ANNOUNCEMENT: Hashtags for topics on this forum

Stryker2011 wrote:Holy cow. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never been all that fond of the whole hashtag fad, and now it seems like we’re going to end up with 100 or more, which I think is going to make this whole process a lot more complicated. Maybe now would be the time to break the forum into sub-categories (like the Freaks), rather than having to add multiple hashtags to every thread. Just a thought to save you, GF, a lot of time.

You are not fan of hashtags? Dinosaur that I am, my only use for them until today has been to mock them, "hashtag this... hashtag that." If there was an easily comprehensible way to create a small selectable set of categories, that might have helped; on the other hand that might not have been a very good fit for each and every thread. Remember you don't have to use all (or any) of these. But it does help someone who wants to just look at (say) military figures. Or superhero figures. Or female figures...

GubernatorFan wrote:You are not fan of hashtags? Dinosaur that I am, my only use for them until today has been to mock them, "hashtag this... hashtag that." If there was an easily comprehensible way to create a small selectable set of categories, that might have helped; on the other hand that might not have been a very good fit for each and every thread. Remember you don't have to use all (or any) of these. But it does help someone who wants to just look at (say) military figures. Or superhero figures. Or female figures...

I kind of wonder about the OSF "home page"; there is a sub-section for "Your First Classifieds Section"; I wonder if from that home page is where a sub-section would be created? Is that just specifically for this forum, for forumotion in general, or for potential advertisers? I'm just curious. I don't know enough about all this stuff to be able to help you, personally, but it did draw my attention.

By the way: If you think you're a "Dinosaur," I'm the "Crabby Old F@#k Down the Street." I even hate the term "hashtag"; it used to be called the "pound sign" before the smart-phone generation came up with all these stupid made-up things to compensate for what seems to be their inability to read or write full sentences. Don't even get me started on "text speak"; I'm one of the last of the hold-outs who still believes that words should be spelled out correctly, and in full, and punctuation is important, even in a text message.

Stryker2011 wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:You are not fan of hashtags? Dinosaur that I am, my only use for them until today has been to mock them, "hashtag this... hashtag that." If there was an easily comprehensible way to create a small selectable set of categories, that might have helped; on the other hand that might not have been a very good fit for each and every thread. Remember you don't have to use all (or any) of these. But it does help someone who wants to just look at (say) military figures. Or superhero figures. Or female figures...

I kind of wonder about the OSF "home page"; there is a sub-section for "Your First Classifieds Section"; I wonder if from that home page is where a sub-section would be created? Is that just specifically for this forum, for forumotion in general, or for potential advertisers? I'm just curious. I don't know enough about all this stuff to be able to help you, personally, but it did draw my attention.

By the way: If you think you're a "Dinosaur," I'm the "Crabby Old F@#k Down the Street." I even hate the term "hashtag"; it used to be called the "pound sign" before the smart-phone generation came up with all these stupid made-up things to compensate for what seems to be their inability to read or write full sentences. Don't even get me started on "text speak"; I'm one of the last of the hold-outs who still believes that words should be spelled out correctly, and in full, and punctuation is important, even in a text message.

I completely with you on the sad decline of written communication.  It blows my mind when I get emails at work from people at other companies, written with less care than I would put in a text message.  I know I'm operating by already outdated standards, but I believe how you write is a big part of how you choose to represent yourself.

But the hashtag thing, for all it's negative associations, is probably a good fit for this forum.  It makes things instantly group-able, without actually having to divide the forum into sub-sections.  I can only speak for myself, but I much prefer the single section for almost all posts.  I've only glanced around on the Freaks forums, but I found all the sub categories overwhelming, and hard to navigate.  Dividing things up is a tricky thing.  I probably wouldn't go looking for a WW2 or Vietnam subcatagory, but when something pops up on the regular channel, I'll take a look, and I'm often glad I did, having seen a lot of incredible work because of it.  With hashtags, it's an easy way to look for more of the same.  If you see a cool Marvel post, it may get you wondering what other Marvel posts people have done, and you can click on the hashtag.  You can choose to use as many as you want, if you want your post to come up in relation to various topics, or you can ignore them all together.  They're non-intrusive, and probably give the best options to add functionality without changing how anyone else enjoys the forum.

coomodel
furniture
horror
pte

I agree with what ReverendSpooky said -- all of it, including the bewilderment at the decline of basic literacy (even when someone is writing in their own language) and care for presentation. And I don't mean the occasional typo or omitted word, which can happen to anyone. I also agree with Stryker's disdain for the onslaught of largely unnecessary new lingo. I was cringing a little bit every time I typed the term "hashtag," but I had to use it for the sake of specificity. And here, as ReverendSpooky said, it will come very handy -- or so it seems to me.

After reading this thread, I have a sudden craving for hash browns with some corned beef hash.

DeltaForceChung wrote:After reading this thread, I have a sudden craving for hash browns with some corned beef hash.

Good one, DFC! Nice new title, too... does that mean you'll keep it clean?

GubernatorFan wrote:

DeltaForceChung wrote:After reading this thread, I have a sudden craving for hash browns with some corned beef hash.

Good one, DFC! Nice new title, too... does that mean you'll keep it clean?

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It depends.

What if I have to go into the ladies changing room . . . while they're in there in various state of undress?

I don't believe my janitor credentials is going to cut it.

If it will help with sorting or organizational goals, I'll adopt the hashtag thing.

I've been cringing for years at the "text speak" thing. Imagine what it would be like if you were a former newspaper reporter, raised with a dictionary at your right hand and was "the guy" at Clemson University who screwed up the curve in Advanced Grammar class.

dadrab wrote:If it will help with sorting or organizational goals, I'll adopt the hashtag thing.

I've been cringing for years at the "text speak" thing. Imagine what it would be like if you were a former newspaper reporter, raised with a dictionary at your right hand and was "the guy" at Clemson University who screwed up the curve in Advanced Grammar class.

That was me, although I didn't go to Clemson. Despite never really putting it to good use, I have a Masters in English.

Stryker2011 wrote:

dadrab wrote:If it will help with sorting or organizational goals, I'll adopt the hashtag thing.

I've been cringing for years at the "text speak" thing. Imagine what it would be like if you were a former newspaper reporter, raised with a dictionary at your right hand and was "the guy" at Clemson University who screwed up the curve in Advanced Grammar class.

That was me, although I didn't go to Clemson. Despite never really putting it to good use, I have a Masters in English.

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Really? You have a Masters?

I'm a Master CPA.

C certified
P ain In The
A ss

I think I’d rather be that.

Stryker2011 wrote:I think I’d rather be that.

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KY is a business expense deduction.

I will admit to adopting a few text style terms. I think "lol" goes a long way in expressing a reaction that is hard to otherwise get across in a purely written conversation, and is an attempt to convey something a bit more natural and conversational than stating "I am amused by the thing you have just written. I am sitting at my computer, and quietly chuckling to myself at the wit by which you have conveyed your point."

ReverendSpooky wrote:I will admit to adopting a few text style terms.  I think "lol" goes a long way in expressing a reaction that is hard to otherwise get across in a purely written conversation, and is an attempt to convey something a bit more natural and conversational than stating "I am amused by the thing you have just written.  I am sitting at my computer, and quietly chuckling to myself at the wit by which you have conveyed your point."  

I agree. But you know when you've been using it too much? When you actually say it in conversation! Yes, it has happened to me...

GubernatorFan wrote:

ReverendSpooky wrote:I will admit to adopting a few text style terms.  I think "lol" goes a long way in expressing a reaction that is hard to otherwise get across in a purely written conversation, and is an attempt to convey something a bit more natural and conversational than stating "I am amused by the thing you have just written.  I am sitting at my computer, and quietly chuckling to myself at the wit by which you have conveyed your point."  

I agree. But you know when you've been using it too much? When you actually say it in conversation! Yes, it has happened to me...

No! That's so rough. Please tell us you said it completely straight faced, without a hint of actual laughter.

ReverendSpooky wrote:No!  That's so rough.  Please tell us you said it completely straight faced, without a hint of actual laughter.

Yep pretty much. Not more than a little chuckle, mostly expressed by sounding out L-O-L. Worse yet... it's happened more than once.

I don't speak Facebook or social media acronyms or any online sayings in real life.

HOW and WHY?

I don't have a real life.

Personally I'd love to have a "like" button so I don't have to write three letters for each of your funny comments, I had a big slice of fun reading this thread!

Joke aside, I surely don't want a "like" button, and even if I don't like hashtags, I learned to use and get used to them, mainly with flickr and instagram (I come from a time when you pressed # on your home phone to validate a zipcode or alike...)
The good point of hashtags is they will ease any search without breaking the forum in sub categories. I am surely lazy but I confess I browse threads that are not of my interest and discover great things because they are all in the same feed. I fear to miss a lot of things I wouldn't even think of just because they are sorted in too specific categories, that's my feeling when going on sideshowfreaks, which is for me a baaaaad example of forum, separating people right at the doorway depending on their interests or tastes...

#beatenintosubmission.
#Isurrender
#majorityrules

LOL!

Ok I'm still trying to figure out this hashtags thing, I'm not really update on this new fangled technology and I hate it, (I still use a flip phone)
so do I put all the hashtags in the first post even for all the upcoming post? (I don't do texting)

That is my understanding. If you start a thread, put the # in the very first post only.

BAD WOLF and Stryker -- if you want people to be able to find a topic (thread) you have started when searching via hashtags, then yes, add the hashtags in the first post (I like them at the end of the post, but I suppose anywhere would work). And people should know to follow through the rest of the topic (thread) in case there are more images, info, discussion etc.

If you really want a specific post other than the first post to also pop up in hashtag searches, I suppose you can put tags in it too, but that might be too much work; also, if there is too much of that, it might flood the search results and make that more unmanageable.

REMINDER: if you want your creations or contributions to be easily searchable by other members, please remember to use hashtags (check out the first post in this topic for details). That allows more consistent results than the regular search function.

I have taken the liberty of adding hashtags to a number of topics that I noticed did not have them, but you cannot expect me to catch everything and plenty has slipped through.

Moreover, we have recently realized that we can only view up to 7 pages of topics (threads), and topics too old to fit within these 7 pages are not accessible through that page view (though they continue to exist). I am exploring solutions for this issue, and will keep you posted. When we "discovered" hashtags, we went through pre-existing topics, so hopefully the ones that would have displayed beyond page 7 are reachable through hashtag and search; also, remember you can find all of your own posts through Profile.

I use hagtags when I need to find witches in a hurry.

JohnByng wrote:I use hagtags when I need to find witches in a hurry.

Banned for a bad pun.












Just kidding.