Blog Post

Social Media 101 – What is “Tagging”?

How do you "tag" on social media?
One of the key doctrines of social media is being, well, social! Mentioning and tagging other pages is a way of giving a “shout out” to another brand or individual, and is one of the most important parts of participating on most social networks. Making sure to tag others when applicable is a great way to create and join in on conversations, and can help build good will in your industry.
How To Tag
Tagging other pages is fairly simple on most platforms. On Facebook and Twitter this can be accomplished by typing the “@” symbol and the first few letters of the name of the person or page you wish to tag. If you are able to tag that page, they will appear in a drop down menu underneath your post, where you can click their name to insert the tag. When you tag that post, the person or brand that you tagged will receive a notification, letting them know that you have mentioned them in one of your posts.
What To Do If You Can’t Tag Someone
Sometimes, even after you type the “@” symbol and the page or person’s name, the page or person won’t appear in the drop down menu. When this happens you should double check several things depending on the social network that you are using:

  • Facebook – Make sure you are friends with or are following the page you wish to tag. If their name still does not come up in the drop-down, you will not be able to tag them, and should remove the “@” symbol.
  • Twitter – Make sure that you are following the page you wish to tag. If their name still does not come up you can still tag them by typing their exact user name. Be careful of typos though – you wouldn’t want to accidentally mention the wrong person.
  • Others – If not on Facebook or Twitter, make sure that your platform supports tags. Many do, however some, like LinkedIn, do not allow other pages to be tagged in corporate posts.