[#A Feature w/in a Feature: SharePoint Microblogging w/NewsGator]

You might be wondering what’s going on with the title of my blog post, unless you’re a NewsGator Social Sites user – in which case you might recognize this as a multi-word hash tag. Hash tags are relevant because, when posted in microblog entries, they can help you keep content organized based on a set of keywords. In my opinion, hash tagging is one of the greatest things about SharePoint microblogging. With NewsGator Social Sites, SharePoint users can not only hash tag keywords, but they can hash tag strings of keywords. So now you can hash tag [#sales and marketing] as opposed to just [#sales], which can be useful when you want to target a larger distribution of people within your organization.

Since starting at NewsGator, I have quickly realized the tremendous value of microblogging within our SharePoint + NewsGator platform, and more specifically, the value of using hash tags within microblog entries. Just yesterday I needed help testing out something on a mobile device. Instead of walking around the office trying to find someone with a BlackBerry phone, I simply posted a question in the Activity Stream:

Within a few minutes, I had an answer. I quickly sent J.B. my testing information and got everything taken care of, without even leaving my desk.

Social Sites also gives users the ability to receive email notifications about tagged keywords. So, for the purposes of my real-life example above, any user that listed “BlackBerry” as a keyword in their ‘Ask Me About’ field was notified that I posted something in the Activity Stream with that same keyword. As you can imagine, this feature supercharges your organization’s ability to collaborate.

If you’re interested in SharePoint microblogging, then take a closer look at NewsGator. This example outlines one small part of a much larger set of use cases that help to increase user adoption and collaboration. Adding hash tags while microblogging is just one of many ways we use our own product to share knowledge at NewsGator. It’s not about being lazy; it’s about being more productive – I saved time because I didn’t have to wander around my office to find someone with a BlackBerry.