Some Quick Twitter Basics - David V. Kimball

Felt inspired and sent a coworker a few guidelines when she asked me what hashtags were. Here they are for your perusal:

Don’t use a symbol in a hashtag, like ”’” ”/” or ”-” because it breaks it. Example: “#That’sWhatISaid vs #ThatsWhatISaid. The hashtag with the apostrophe is broken.
Don’t start a tweet with an @-username, or else only the followers you have already following that particular @-username’s account can see it. Example: “@WarrenBuffett said: ‘[MISC QUOTE].;” vs “.@WarrenBuffett said: ‘[MISC QUOTE].‘” One tweet has a period in front of the username so all followers can see it, even those who don’t follow @WarrenBuffett. The reason for this is when you start a tweet with an account’s username, Twitter treats it like a reply and hides it from most people.
Use spaces in between hashtags or @-usernames, or else they won’t work. Example: “#finance#business#wealthmanagement@WarrenBuffett” vs #finance #business #wealthmanagement @WarrenBuffett” The first tweet, none of the hashtags or hyper-linked @-usernames worked. The second time, they did, because there was a space in between each item.
Don’t be annoying and use too many hashtags. It looks spammy and cheap.
If you favorite and retweet other people’s tweets, that will make them happy. Do it strategically.