#hashtags and status updates

If you are into Twitter (which I admit I think is a lot of fun and often very informative) you will know that almost every TV show now has its own hashtag. Tweeters, twitterers, twits (or whatever we are supposed to call them) will then comment on the show as it is broadcast. I find it interesting to see how people react to the particular show. This is particularly true when watching news shows such as Question Time and Newsnight, which pleasingly seem to have a huge following in the Twittersphere. Following the #bbcqt or #newsnight hashtags gives you an instant reaction to what is being discussed, which I think adds a really new dimension to current affairs. It is also great fun when at a live event. For example, at places such the Frontline Club, during the debates/talks you can tweet comments which are shown on a screen next to the panel (which when I first tried it I thought was great fun).

However, there is a danger with this new way of commenting on live events and that is that you become so obsessed with the coming up with the witty quip or the perfect put down, that you actually stop concentrating on the main event. I certainly have this problem (because I am male and find multi-tasking beyond me). I think we may find that when people meet up in the pub to discuss last night's TV shows (yes surely people still do that!) they may well all have been concentrating at different moments and have entirely different recollections of the programme!

I rather like hashtags, whereas I am still not entirely convinced by status updates. Quite frankly I am bored by people who write things like "just made a nice cup of tea" or "my train is running late". I feel uneasy with commuters who tell us how smelly the person they are sitting next to is. I find it amusing (and thus feel less sympathy) when people write things like "I am so busy I don't know where to start" or "I have so many things to do today it's not true". Well you can’t be that busy if you have had time to write the status update in the first place! I may be being harsh here but I do think that the status update panders to the attention seeker. Give me a good hashtag any day!