What’s in a hashtag? Can it capture the lifestyle of a community? Or define a brand’s business model? The humble hashtag, born from a single Twitter user, can now be leveraged by companies to build communities at the intersection of brand and lifestyle. Poler Camping Stuff’s #campvibes curates the outdoor adventures of its loyalists (to the envy of deskbound Instagrammers everywhere) and promotes their products in the process. Newport Folk Festival’s #folkyeah connects fans and bands at the festival, while showcasing music and folk lifestyle year round. We’ll share how brands like these are using hashtags to cultivate a community of vocal (and lurking) advocates, from the tactics of effective curation to the strategy of content creation. We’ll convince you to embrace user generated content, even as it challenges your notion of who owns your brand, and how it’s not so much about selling products as inspiring users to take a moment out of their day to contemplate a lifestyle. Vote at: http://bit.ly/folkyeah

1. #folkyeah #campvibes: The Culture of Hashtags
SXSW Interactive 2013 | Content Distribution | Dual Panel
@devonvsmith and @jordanfugate

2. What’s in a #hashtag?

3. Can it capture the lifestyle of a community?

4. Can it define the business model of a brand?

5. We’ll share how brands are using #hashtags to
cultivate a community of advocates, from tactics
of effective curation to the strategy of content
creation.

6. Poler Camping Stuff uses
#campvibes to curate
the outdoor adventures
of its loyalists and
promotes their products
in the process.

8. Newport Folk Festival
uses #folkyeah to
connect fans and bands
at the festival, while
showcasing music and
folk lifestyle year round.

10. For brands trying to persuade consumers to
become advocates, companies trying to sell a
lifestyle through their products, and social
media managers trying to stay human online.
Vote Here: http://bit.ly/folkyeah