Hashtags allow Twitter users to tag tweets to give more context to them. They can also be used as a way to designate the tweet to particular conversation or chat.
In sports, many commentators use hashtags as way to get people who are watching the telecast to ask them questions. For example, if the commentators name is Jack, Twitter users who are viewing the match can tweet questions to Jack by adding a hashtag such as #AskJack in their tweet. By doing this, Jack, the commentator, will have the tweet questions directed to him.
Twitter users will have to make sure that they fulfill the basic functions of hashtags to get noticed. The functions include: Chat/Conference participation, adding emotion or thought process, adding for a comedic effect and using it to mark a topic area for a specific audience.
Do not use the hashtag out of context
One of the biggest misuses of hashtags is that Twitter users constantly use them out of context. This basically means that if there is a conversation or discussion on Twitter, the user will add a hashtag that has no relevance to the topic at hand. This is an ineffective way of getting people to read your tweets as it distracts the readers from understanding the tweet entirely. Those who are participating in the chat or conference will notice that the topics are off the topic and will lose interest in the discussion completely. In this scenario, the irrelevant tweets will be viewed as a spam tweet and it is most likely that it will go unnoticed. When using hashtags, make sure that you are using content that is relevant to the topic. It will be easier for viewers to understand you tweets better.
Marking topic/audience
A great way to get your tweets read by the audience that you are targeting is to add the hashtag that is relevant to it. For example, if you are tweeting about breast cancer awareness, a suitable hashtag such as #breastcancer, will automatically get more views as it is directed to those who are affected by breast cancer and those who are supporting its awareness. People who are interested in the area that you are hashtagging will want to see the tweets that you have made on that particular topic. One of the major doubts which Twitter users face is that they do not know how many hashtags to use in a tweet. Generally, the safe way to add a hashtag is to use it once in the sentence and about three times at the end of the tweet.
Add comedic effect
Hashtags, if used comically, can attract many users to the tweets. To do this, make sure that you use a string of two to three words in your hashtag that creates a joke or observation, which is relevant to your tweet. For example, if the tweet is about going to the shopping mall with my parents, a funny hashtag would be #windowshopping #groceries #novideogames.