Twhich Scrapbook #Hashtag Twill Twork Best for You on Twitter?

Is that a Hashtag in your Tweet, or are you just happy to see me?

As someone who uses Twitter both at home and at work, I can tell you it's one of those tools that is what you make it. When used casually or sporadically, it generates little return on investment.

However, when used regularly and effectively, Twitter can be a powerful weapon in your networking arsenal. That is as true for Fortune 500 companies as it is for us scrapbookers. In fact, the number of scrapbookers, scrapbook stores, scrapbook websites and scrapbook supply companies using Twitter continues to grow. It's a vast network of croppers and crafters sharing secrets and trading tips.

Anyone who is on Twitter knows the game: You update your status with no more than 140 characters. Including spaces.

These updates include links to online layouts, blog posts or scrapbook supply sales. Twitter offers us a continuous onslaught of scrapbook news.

When we put out a tweet, most of us include hashtags in our updates. Including a tag in a Tweet is like tagging an animal in the wild - it makes it easier to find. If you include #scrapbook in your update, other users can type '#scrapbook' in the search field and they will get all the updates with that hashtag included within the 140 character update.

The trick is deciding which scrapbook-related hashtag to include in your updates. If you use an unpopular hashtag, you've wasted ten-or-so characters on a tag no one uses. Like you, I've seen all sorts of hashtags being used and wanted to figure out which scrapbook-related hashtags are the most effective and will help put my tweet out there to more scrapbookers.

So, if you were wondering which #scrapbook-related tags to include in your tweets, I am here to help. I searched Twitter for 26 tags. Below is a list detailing which hashtags are proven effective and which are a complete waste of space. I conducted these searches on a Sunday at noon.

A search brings up the most recent 20 tweets. If those 20 tweets were done recently - that tells us many people are using that hashtag. However, if a search resulted in 20 or fewer results over many days, that means it's not used as frequently and may not be worth wasting any of your 140 characters on it.

Popular Hashtags - Specifically about Scrapbooking

#Digiscrap: 20 Tweets / 4 hours

#Scrapbooking: 20 Tweets / 5 hours

#Scrapbook: 20 Tweets / 20 Hours

Popular Hashtags - Related to Scrapbooking

#Photography: 20 Tweets / 4 Minutes

#Photo: 20 Tweets / 5 minutes

#Handmade: 20 Tweets / 26 minutes - Lots of Etsy-related updates

#Photos: 20 Tweets / 29 minutes

#Photographer: 20 Tweets / 1 hour

#Craft: 20 Tweets / 4 hours

#Cardmaking: 20 Tweets / 12 Hours

#Mixedmedia: 20 Tweets / 4 days

Deceiving Hashtags - Not used by only Scrapbookers

#Scrappers: 20 Tweets / 1.5 Days - Also used by fans of the Spike TV Show "Scrappers"

#Scrap: 20 Tweets / 15 hours - Seems to also be used by fans of street fighting. I have no idea about that connection.

#Digi: 20 Tweets / 4 Days - Used to promote all-things Digital - from TV to pictures

#Card: 20 Tweets / 5 hours - Used to promote every kind of card - from greeting to playing

#Paper: 20 Tweets / 4 hours - Used primarily by recyclers debating #Paper vs. #Plastic

#Stamps: 20 Tweets / 13 hours - Used mostly by philatelists

#Journaling: 20 Tweets / 19 hours - Used primarily for some Journaling game. No Idea.

A Waste of Words - Scrapbook Hashtags that are rarely - if ever used

#Stamping: 9 Tweets / 5 days

#Crafter: 8 Tweets / 5 days

#Cardmakers: 3 Tweets / 5 days

#Hybridscrap: 3 Tweets / 4 hours

#Cardstock: 2 Tweets / 5 days

#Scrapbooker: 1 Tweet / 4 days

#Stamper: 0 Tweets

#Cardmaker: 0 Tweets