Your Life #Trending
July 29, 2014
Post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess
I was #havingdinnerwithfamily and then I #walkedthedog before I #hadicecreamwithfriends and finally I #saidgoodnight. Aaahhh, the hashtag, the measurement by which we gauge our life... or so it seems.
Remember, back in the "olden days" when the hashtag was called the pound symbol and it indicated a measure of weight or the end of a book or article (if you were a journalist) or the symbol you pressed on a telephone keypad (remember those) when you wanted to get to a different menu? Or remember when it was just plain called the number sign. Today, the hashtag is how we relate, make ourselves stand out and show we are having a #greattimewithfriends.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you're #havingdinnerwithfamily shouldn't you be putting the smart phone away and having dinner with your family? Talking with them. Asking them how their day was rather than showing the world what you're doing?
If you're so obsessed with the hashtags of your life, you're not engaged in the life you're living, are you?
When I #walkthedog (which by the way I wouldn't say because I would always be walking Henrietta, the diva poodle... not "the dog") I will check into my ResQWalk app and I will be wearing my FitBit to mark my progress, but when I am walking The Hen I am enjoying the walk. I am #gettingawayfromthecomputer for goodness' sake!
You can't even escape the hashtag when you're watching tv because with almost every change of scene a new hashtag pops up in the corner. I do my best to resist the lure of checking that television hashtag while I am in the midst of watching. When I am watching tv show I really just want to veg, not be multi-tasking. I do admit, though, that on the final night of the SyFy show Face Off I will tweet for my favorite make-up artist.
Do I use hashtags in my daily life, yes. Have I used hashtags to talk about my life? You bet. When I am blogging about #breastcancer or #BabyBoomer issues, I want to be part of the conversation and I want my comments found and followed. When I am #havingfunwithfriends or #watchingamoviewithfamily I want to be present and enjoying those moments because, unlike a hashtag, they are fleeting.
This made me smile, Robbi. I do think the hashtag is becoming ubiquitous, but in a good way. I don't 'think' hashtag yet, but I do try and use it in my social mentions, as I see everyone else doing.
When I'm not at the computer though, I'm not hashtagging... I'm just doing what you do, being with the dogs and cat, or being with family.
Posted by: Yvonne DiVita | July 30, 2014 at 09:15 AM