If you are a Twitter newbie trying to experience Inauguration Day within the microblogosphere, you’re probably wondering why so many tweets are littered with #inaug09 and #inauguration.
The answer is simple: Hashtags (words preceded by the the hash symbol) are turned into links by many programs and sites used to follow and read tweets.
For example, if a chunk of that first paragraph was a tweet, many Twitter users would see it this way:
ksablan you’re probably wondering why so many tweets are littered with #inaug09 and #inauguration
Here are a couple of tools to help you to follow the #inaug09 hashtag and to add that tag to your tweets as you micropost away.
- Tweet Grid has a 2009 Inauguration Live Tweets page where you can watch three streams of inauguration tweets. You can post a tweet from the page, and the “#inaug09” hashtag will automatically be added to your message.
- Tweetchat will also add a hashtag to your tweets before posting. Tweetchat treats hashtags as “roooms.” Go to the inaug09 room (hashtag is optional on this site) to join the conversation.
- Twibble Mobile lets you create “templates” to store strings of text, like “#inaug09,” that you can quickly insert while tweeting from your mobile device.
After our new president is sworn in, you might wonder how you can start your own hashtag. I suggest reading Amy Gahran’s How to start a Twitter hashtag blog post.
And if you’re wondering how the #inaug09 hashtag was created, here is …
The birth of a hashtag
On the morning of Decemeber 3, 2008, this message was tweeted by @acarvin:

Which led to this conversation:
- kyeung808: @acarvin i go for #inaug09 b/c allows for more tweet-ability. :) [Dec 3, 2008 10:18 AM]
- nerdette: @acarvin I vote #inaug09 I would also vote #gobamaOMGPREZFTWbut it’s too long and partisan :) thx for corralling [Dec 3, 2008 10:19 AM]
- mjsante: @acarvin Like #inaug09 and #jan20 personally. Can never remember how to spell inauguration. [Dec 3, 2008 10:25 AM]
- Mavarin: @acarvin I like #inaug09 as a tag for inauguration Tweets. [Dec 3, 2008 10:25 AM]
- petergunk: @acarvin I like #inaug09 [Dec 3, 2008 10:26 AM]
- EndTheRoboCalls: RT @acarvin: So what should be the official tag for inauguration day? #inauguration? #inaug09? #inaugur8? #jan20? #inaugday? Any preference [Dec 3, 2008 10:29 AM]
- acarvin: @CRA1G: though I guess it’s really #inaug09. I keep making that mistake myself. :-) [Dec 3, 2008 10:29 AM]
- blogislam: RT @acarvin: So what should be the official tag for inauguration day?#inauguration? #inaug09? #inaugur8? #jan20? #inaugday? Any prefere … [Dec 3, 2008 10:31 AM]
- acarvin: @blogislam: totally agree, which is why #inaug09 and #jan20 are my top two faves. [Dec 3, 2008 10:31 AM]
- blogislam: @acarvin hmmm… if those end up being the top two… my vote goes to#inaug09 [Dec 3, 2008 10:37 AM]
That was all!
On the last day of the year, an NPR blog post by Andy Carvin urged people to include the #inaug09 and #dctrip09 tags whenever using social tools to post content related to the inauguration. That blog post was followed by a requisite tweet, of course. And the rest is becoming history.
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