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Hashtag You’re It is a twitter based bluffing game where players read real tweets with hidden hashtags, submit their own hashtag to fool other players, and then attempt to select the real hashtag themselves without getting fooled by others.

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How To Play

  1. At the start of a round, the main screen displays a tweet within the chosen category, but with the real hashtag hidden from view.

  2. On their devices, each player types in a hashtag. The goal is to submit a hashtag, either a real one or a fake one, that fools other players into thinking your submitted hashtag is the real, hidden hashtag attached to the displayed tweet.

  3. If a player tries to submit the real hashtag, aka. they actually guess the hashtag that is hidden from view, the game will let them know and ask them to submit a different hashtag that will fake out other players.

  4. After all players submit their hashtags, on their own devices each player selects the hashtag they think is the real one hidden from the tweet, using context clues about the hashtags displayed, the text in the tweet, etc.

  5. After everyone votes, the game shows who voted for which hashtags, reveals who made each hashtag, and what the real, hidden hashtag actually was.

  6. Players receive 25 points for every other player that selects their fake hashtag and any player who guesses the real hashtag get 50 points. The player with the most points after three rounds wins!

Will you become the ultimate Hashtag Champion?

Learning Guide Learning Guide

What is a hashtag?

A hashtag is an easy way for people to categorize, find and join conversations on a particular topic. The hashtag is used to highlight keywords or topics within a Tweet, and can be placed anywhere within a post.

Why Should We Learn About Hashtags?

Hashtags are a predominant way online communities who are interested in a certain topic, idea, or issue build capacity. They prove invaluable for cataloguing following up-to-the-minute news about an issue or campaign, and are a concise way to capture large complex topics in order to spread awareness and/or mobilize action.

Learning Objectives

Create and craft interesting and rhetorically purposeful hashtags

Learn how to advocate for issues and causes through social media

Think Critically about twitter campaigns

Analyze what makes hashtags effective and meaningful

Reflect on the role of hashtag activism in spreading awareness, engagement and participation

Things to think about

In Their Shoes
Ask Students to imagine themselves in the position of the person who creates hashtags to advocate for a cause. They could start by discovering how others use twitter as a professional tool to advocate or market products or ideas.

The Art of the Perfect Hashtag
Ask Students to consider the mechanics of creating spreadable hashtags for advocacy purposes. This includes thinking through and breaking down the creative decisions that go into the construction of social network campaigns, and how things "go viral".

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Like most things on the internet, it is hard to maintain focus and attention on an issue over a longer period of time. Ask students to think through or reflect on hashtags that they didn't know or soon forgot about.

Key Questions to Ask

What was the purpose of this Tweet?
Think about intention, design, and structure of the message itself.

Why was this Tweet sent?
Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.

How might people understand this tweet differently without the real hashtag?
Context will change messaging, intention, and audience reception.

Did my hashtag communicate my purpose effectively?
Were my intentions the same as the audiences that viewed this hashtag?

What creative techniques are used to attract attention?
Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.

What communities or ideas does this hashtag advocate for or support?
Media make up the fabric of civic life, and information is at the core of community dialog.

Who has access to twitter? And more importantly, who doesn’t?
Wide access to diverse information is important for democracy.

Lesson Plans

Click here for Hashtag You're It! Lesson Plans.