Use the Wrong Conference Hashtag, and an ’80s Band May Tweet at You
By Sam Hoisington
November 13, 2017
As digitally savvy scholars know, the conference hashtag is a staple of a well-orchestrated academic meet-up in 2017. But, as important as hashtags might be to academics with itchy fingers, there is no hashtag police or governing authority; people are free to use or abuse hashtags as they see fit.
The American Historical Association, or AHA, and the Norwegian band a-ha, perhaps best known for its 1985 hit “Take On Me,” had to clarify a few hashtag-related matters on Twitter recently to help their followers avoid confusion.
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As digitally savvy scholars know, the conference hashtag is a staple of a well-orchestrated academic meet-up in 2017. But, as important as hashtags might be to academics with itchy fingers, there is no hashtag police or governing authority; people are free to use or abuse hashtags as they see fit.
The American Historical Association, or AHA, and the Norwegian band a-ha, perhaps best known for its 1985 hit “Take On Me,” had to clarify a few hashtag-related matters on Twitter recently to help their followers avoid confusion.
Although “AHA” and “a-ha” are pronounced differently, in a medium where brevity rules, it should be no surprise that the two could run into trouble.
AHA has a conference coming up in January, when 4,000 historians are expected to flock to Washington, D.C., for four days jam-packed with scholarly presentations. a-ha, the band, is trying to hype its recently announced 2018 tour.
Here’s how AHA let its followers know about proper conference tweeting:
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Historians, the band A-ha has begun tweeting its 2018 season. As in previous years, we’ve taken special measures to avoid confusion. For the American Historical Association’s annual meeting this January in DC, please use the hashtag #aha18.
Pleased by the wholesome thoughtfulness of the American historians, the Norwegian band’s account retweeted the message, adding context for its fans:
How neighborly! a-ha fans, the American Historical Association has their annual meeting in January using the hashtag #aha18, so be sure to avoid using that unless you’re a historian headed to DC for their meeting ;) We’ll be using #electricsummer for the upcoming summer ’18 tour! https://t.co/b7V6I3hpj2
Conference organizers ran into trouble in past years, when the enthusiastic historians and band fans were found to be using the same hashtags.
AHA was prepping for its 2016 meeting when Stephanie Kingsley, associate editor for web content and social media, noticed that a-ha fans had begun using the #AHA2016 hashtag she had already been using to promote the conference. She instructed the historians to instead use #AHA16.
Since then, she has planned around the conflict. But it was only this year that her a-ha counterpart acknowledged AHA online.
AHA and a-ha do not have any formal affiliation, but it should be noted that The Chronicle found some members of the AHA were fans of a-ha.
Ms. Kingsley said that shouldn’t be a problem because of the timing of the American Heart Association’s yearly meeting, in November.
“We do have the same hashtag, but we’re at different times of the year, so I think it’s going to work out OK,” she said. “The American Heart Association hashtag conflict is looming, but hasn’t actually occurred.”