Tags are a tricky thing on Hive, as many times it’s very unclear which are best to use for what content, or perhaps there is some confusion that tags=upvotes, when in reality, they mean nothing of the sort. In fact using tags that have nothing to do with the content of a post is actually making it harder for readers to find your content. Moving forward, it will be important to improve upon this in the sake of content discovery.
We need to help educate ourselves and new users on proper tag use, that way we can all better organize our own content while also making it easier for us to find others content that interests as well.
As after all, if no one can find your post, no one can read it, or reward it for that matter.
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Many times, an individual may be looking for specific content that peeks their own interests, when they search for these niche interests only that which was categorized as such will be shown in the results. In order to have proper content discovery, we must have proper tag usage. Otherwise it will be nearly impossible for individuals to find the content that interests them.
Well if you are a content creator this means that more individuals will be able to find your content and perhaps reward it. If you are a content consumer this will help you find the content that actually interests you and those creators producing it.
Well firstly, you should be using tags that are relevant to your actual post and are describing it. That means if you are writing a recipe post or photography, no need to tag “Hive”.. tagging Hive does nothing and makes finding your content even harder for readers, as well as curators.
What is your post about?
This should be what you ask yourself when determining what tags to use. What your content is about specifically and what topics it is covering. This will be important for individuals to find the content they are looking for. Use tags that describe your content.
First Tag - "Communities" or Category
While you have many options to use different tags, the first tag is considered a "category" placement and will immediately categorize it in a "community" of that tag (if there is one). Community tags have their own independent guidelines.
Hive has many different Communities and more are added each day. Check out and explore them at https://peakd.com/communities or https://hive.blog/communities.
Additional Tags - Topic Specific
After the "communities" tag, the rest of your tags should be topic specific and they u should describe your actual content. What is your content about? What topics is it covering? What form of content is it? Who is your audience? You should also consider what tags are the most relevant to the content itself, as that is how your audience will find you.
Remember, curators and readers can only find your content if it is categorized correctly. So if you want people to read your posts, use descriptive tags of the content itself.
This tag should be used when you are talking about Hive. Whether that be for a witness update, developments, ideas for Hive, perhaps a contest, or anything having to do with Hive. This tag should generally only be used when discussing Hive in some aspect in the post itself.
This does not need to include every post written on Hive, rather just those discussing some aspect of Hive in the post.
All forms of photography, whether snapshots or professional shots can go under this general tag. Then you may use some sub tags that further describe your photography (i.e., #portraitphotography, #blackandwhite, 
Have you crated a work of Art? Or perhaps are discussing one? Be sure to use the #Art tag! Sub topic tags to give more description of what type of art is always beneficial too. As in - #drawing, #painting, #design, #collage, #digital, #watercolor, #sketch, etc.
Did you go on a trip or vacation? Perhaps doing a review of location or tourist hub? Travel blogs are some of the most popular on the internet, be sure you use descriptive tags to get yours seen!
Did you go to a recent sporting event? Want to discuss your favorite sports team? Maybe you are sharing your favorite #yoga routine. Using either of the main tags and specific ones like #baseball, #football or #soccer can help organize your content a bit better for readers.
Making your favorite recipes, cooking stories or even just some drool worthy photos of delicious foods can easily go under #food, #cooking, #foodporn etc.
This should be reserved for actual writings, whether that be a freewrite, a story, poetry, fiction or even book reviews etc. Including this in every post you “write” even if the content is about something entirely different (like cooking perhaps) makes finding your content a bit more difficult. Remember, the better you describe your work in tags, the easier it will be found.
Discussion of Movies, gaming, music, even some of our local games like splinterlands, or game streaming etc could be categorized under “Entertainment.”
Want to share some local news, discuss current events in the world perhaps? Readers will use this tag to find relevant newsworthy content and should be used to describe post covering such.
Since we are in the Blockchain and Crypto space, this is a topic that is often covered. We should be sure to only include it in content that is discussing this topic in the post though. Subtopics could be a wide range of tags, including: #Crypto, #blockchain, #Bitcoin, #eos, #eth, etc
#Science #Development, #Engineering,or even #STEM
Are you writing about science experiments, upcoming technology, different aspects of engineering, programming, technical updates or developments? Make sure you use one of those tags so interested readers can find your work.
This tag is broad and covers all those posts we write that may not be “topic” specific, rather just sharing our lives. Whether that be about an event that happened, important things in your life or just perhaps sharing your day. #Lifestyle, #Family etc are good for this as well.
As you can see, there are many different tags to help you organize your content, and this is just a few examples. You can mix and match or even add in your own unique ones, just be sure you are making an effort to use tags that describe your content. Doing so will help more individuals find your work, so they can enjoy it and you can continue to grow your audience.
So are you using tags that best describe your content? This is something we can all improve on, as well as help educate new users as well. Doing so will result in a better user experience for us all!
