I always thought myself to be a lover of computers and the internet. I used to brag that I was one of the first people I know to join Facebook - back when you needed a valid school email address to join.
But some things take me a really long time to get into. One of those things was hashtags. It took a little while to understand them, but it took forever for me to actually start using them.
I don't know why. Hashtags are amazing things when used properly. If I search the #evbeadsprites hashtag, I can see who is talking about our business (usually just me). Or if I click #perlerbeads I can see other cool project people are making with Perler beads, and let me tell you some are amazing!
You can find tweets specifically about a favorite show while you're watching it to join in conversations on Twitter. I did that a lot with Big Brother. You can find tweets about local events and festivals. It's so cool.
Almost a year ago, close to Christmas shopping season, I re-posted this photo I found online to Instagram:
I tagged it with the hashtag #SupportlocalPEI, because I wanted to support my province. To this day, there are only 30 Instagram posts with this tag, and all seem to be by the same three people.
Don't worry, I'm getting to my point here.
With the Christmas seasons soon upon us, I want #SupportLocalPEI to be a bigger deal. I want to support my island, support my fellow crafters. I want to buy locally handmade items for Christmas gifts and I want to receive them. There are so many amazing things being made in our province.
So this Christmas season, when you're shopping and browsing craft fairs, post your findings and use the hashtag #SupportLocalPEI. Show other islanders the awesome items they're missing out on. Support the little people trying to run their own businesses.
By spreading the word, you could be making a huge difference to someone.
