#avlsnomg and friends: A guide to Asheville hashtags

by Jennifer Saylor on December 14, 2010

Twitter is the microblogging service that lets people post short, 140-character messages and share them online. Here in Asheville, Twitter’s a popular way to communicate and socialize–and the driving force behind that useful feed of snow-related info you see in the right-hand sidebar of this blog during bad winter weather.

Hashtags are the text “tags” people include in Twitter messages to add context or to make sure their messages are included in any search for a particular topic.

Here in Asheville, many Twitter users tag their messages with the family of hashtags that start with “#avl” (Asheville’s airport code and common abbreviation).

Here’s some of Asheville’s most popular local hashtags, and what kinds of messages they appear with (if it’s not obvious). Note that all hashtags start with the pound sign “#”. CLICK EACH TAG TO SEE EXAMPLES:

#avlsnomg for snowstorm info: pics, tips, hazards, outages, weather and road updates, etc.
#avlnews
#avleat food and restaurant news
#avlent entertainment
#avlart arts news and info
#avlmusic

Other local hashtags:

UPDATED 12/15: added some important tags we forgot!

#avlbeer (thanks David!)
#avlkids and #avlfam news for parents and families
#avlbikes
#avlgov for government info & great Mountain Xpress City Council coverage
#avlelect election season news
#avlout news and info for outdoor enthusiasts; nature events
#avlag agriculture news and info
#avlenv environmental news and info
#avlgb green business
#shopavl or #avlbiz sales and shopping info
#avlgay for gay news and entertainment

A few location hashtags:

#Asheville
#avl
#NAvl, #SAvl, #EAvl, #WAvl (useful, obviously, for letting people know what part of town this news applies to)

A great example of a hashtag is one that’s a home run every year in winter: #avlsnomg. (This tag can be roughly translated as “Oh my god, it’s snowing in Asheville.”) When people in Asheville share winter storm information on Twitter both serious (school closings) and silly (sledding videos), it’s a common practice to use this tag.

Using Twitter hashtags like #avlsnomg ensures a few important things:

  • the Twitter message will show up in Twitter content feeds on local websites like BlogAsheville and Mountain Xpress (in winter, my snowstorm tweet about a downed tree in my neighborhood will show up on a news website, reaching a larger audience who needs to know about this news to avoid this hazard)
  • the Twitter message will show up in any searches for that hashtag (someone searching for snow information might search that tag to see how roads are in her neighborhood)
  • for anyone who reads the message in real time as it appears on Twitter, the message will be clearly marked as relating a particular topic (for #avlsnomg, winter storm info)

Here’s an old Twitter Best Practices document fellow local social media consultant Wendy Lou and I made for a series of community workshops we did in 2009 and 2010. Enjoy!

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention #avlsnomg and friends: A guide to Asheville hashtags | Blog Asheville -- Topsy.com

  • Jim

    #avlkids
    #avlhaiti
    #avlbikes

    Wasn’t there something for the city council?

  • http://scrutinyhooligans.us Gordon Smith

    #avlgov for government info

  • http://jennifersaylor.wordpress.com/ Jennifer Saylor

    And #avlelect for election season news. I need to update this already!

  • David D

    Don’t forget #avlbeer.

  • http://Wilderize.com David Bourne

    Hey there,

    I have a comment and a question for you, Jen.

    My comment is about one hashtag that gets confused and misused; #avlout for Asheville outdoors. Many promoters of Asheville Entertainment like to use #avlent as well as #avlout, just so their bases are covered. On some days, half the posts in #avlout are about “going out” for entertainment.

    This is bad practice because it clutters up the value of outdoor topics.

    My question has to do with geographic correctness. I’m often tempted to use #wncout , not #avlout because most outdoor events in the area happen outside of the Asheville city limits. For example, many happen in Pisgah, which is close to Asheville, Hendersonville and Brevard. Wouldn’t one tag be useful to cover them all?

    I find myself wanting to cover both bases, just like the entertainment folks, cluttering up the tags system!

    Any thoughts on this?

    Thanks,

    David

  • http://jennifersaylor.wordpress.com/ Jennifer Saylor

    Hm. I’ve never noticed #avlout used for entertainment! Hashtags are so crowd-controlled, though, it’s hard to make a change. I think using the tag for outdoor events consistently is the best way to get people to change how they use it; I’m happy to help message the advantages of using #avlout only for outdoors stuff.

    While no one controls hashtag use or “chooses” community tags, users can help show people the advantages of using tags a certain way. And there are obvious advantages to clear and consistent use.

    As far as WNC hashtags, a good way to kickstart them (you’re not the first to mention to me that some users need tags for a larger area than just Asheville) might be to get with several others who will need and use the #wncout hashtag, and get them to use it and message what it is, what it means, and when to use it.

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