Did you know? If you want to _mention_ a hashtag like #lichenSubscribe, but you don't want followers of that hashtag to be alerted to your post (because it isn't actually about lichen) you can set the post's “visibility” to “quiet public”?
It will still be visible to everyone, including your own followers as usual, it just won't alert strangers who are following the hashtag and it won't show up in searches for that hashtag.
@mjd Argh, I didn't! I'd ping them all again to apologise, but...
Anyway, that's a really useful lesson, thank you!
@WiteWulf @mjd This was specifically in response to me recommending the hashtag as one to follow, thus sharing that recommendation post with everyone following the hashtag!
In other words, using the hashtag on a relevant post: fine. Using one on a post talking about the hashtag: irritating to those following it.
@mjd mmh, what's the point of mentioning a hashtag if you don't want people to find the post based on the hashtag?
The only thing I can think of is content filtering, for the people who mute that hashtag. Is there anything else?
@miranda_blue There's a difference between using and mentioning.
If I say "Look at this picture of beautiful lichen! #lichenSubscribe" I'm bringing the beautiful lichen to the attention of people who follow the hashtag because they want to see pictures of beautiful lichen.
If I say to my bud "You should follow #lichenSubscribe if you enjoy lichen!”, people who follow the hashtag don't need it brought to their attention because they already know to follow the hashtag. They want to see beautiful lichen, and there isn't any in my post.
In the second example I'm not using the tag to talk about lichen, I'm mentioning it because I'm talking about *the tag*.
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