#tagcoding: why everyone should do it, and how

There are many reasons to start #tagcoding but two are selected to illustrate these reasons: it is a means to overcome the polarizing forces of social media, and it is a means to make the world of knowledge small for everyone.

As #tagcoding is not primarily a skill to practice individually, a number of engagement steps are presented. They address the individual skill and the public tools that make the skill “socially” productive in a digital Public Sphere.

This chapter concludes with a #tagcoding code of conduct and a brief note on the current global “organic” adoption of #tagcoding.

Overcoming the polarizing forces of social media

Recently, it has been observed that social media algorithms promote the affirmation of one’s own views and polarize empowered citizens into bubbles that no longer meet. A Belgian minister of the Interior stated: “We have invested in empowerment, but have forgotten the willingness to listen”.

The resulting issue then is, how to enable the willingness to listen across the bubbles?

The good news is that #tagcoding has been invented with that purpose: the search of a tagcoding hashtag, prior to sharing content or opinion, indicates a willingness to listen, across languages, but also across all kinds of bubbles that social media otherwise would reinforce.

By practicing #tagcoding we can overcome the polarizing forces of social media.

Making the world of knowledge small for everyone

The “small-world” argument in social network theory emphasizes that people are, on average, only a few connections away from the information they seek.

Singh et al. (2000) in their paper “The world is not small for everyone: Inequity in searching for knowledge in organizations” contrast the “small world” argument with empirical support for the argument that the network structure does not benefit everyone.

For people who have longer search paths in locating knowledge in an organization and in the internet, the world is large.

The drivers for inequality in the access to knowledge include the mechanisms periphery status and homophily, “love of the same”, the tendency of individuals to associate and bond with similar others.

The tools for looking up coding hashtags and the systematized hashtags covering all topics in a topic-dimension (see chapter 3) encourage heterophilous awareness in search. By leveraging internet and wiki services, it will take only a few seconds for finding the coding hashtag for a specific topic in a topic-dimension.

Together, the coding hashtags, the wikis and public content have this purpose: leverage the internet and social media for making the world of knowledge smaller for all members of society.

This is why the systematized content to which this e-book refers are offered without a pay wall. Your contribution for this e-book, enables its author(s) and other volunteers to expand and provide for free a growing collection of systematized content. Together we can demonstrate that #tagcoding of content and the creation of mutually linked wikis are pillars for learning and development and that it lowers the access hurdles for knowledge that matters to people’s livelihood.

A first engagement step: #tagcoding

The common search engines and many social platforms support coding hashtags, yet for most social media platforms the use of hashtags is an “intra-platform” feature. For Twitter, in spite of the recent discontinuation of hashtag based timelines, search for hashtags is open also to non-subscribers via Twitter Search.

On the social platforms anyone can label content with a tagcoding hashtag for the topic in the country to make it part of a domestic discourse which is globally visible.

This makes the discourse on the topic inclusive. Everyone (on the platform) can contribute, without a need to join a specific group or community, or without a need to be “rich or famous” for the contribution to be noticed.

Whereas social media gives you a means to communicate with your social network, the coding hashtags allow you to instantly follow a discourse and to target it with your own insights. This in contrast with being restricted to bubbles (your own network) or content for the broad public. If a discourse progresses at a slow pace, older posts can easily be retrieved and the hashtag helps retrieving posts over a longer period of time.

By having hashtags for finegrained topics, the expected posting intensity per hashtag decreases, and a much better match is possible between content supply and demand. Consider authors or researchers in a community that has adopted #tagcoding. A topic with many posts would indicate an over-supply of content - many authors writing similar stuff, or researchers doing similar research -, while a topic with no posts would indicate neglect of the topic. By #tagcoding their production and search of prior work, the authors and researchers can better allocate their time so that all topics in a topic-dimension receive the appropriate attention.

Language-neutral hashtags cover every sustainable development goal or target, every function of government, every economic activity, every product or service, and every locality. There is a coding hashtag for everyone’s livelihood or public service needs. In the internet and social media, hashtag-coded content is like a word in a dictionary: when looked up via a search engine, it will be found.

A second engagement step: #xy2wiki

Bringing a #tagcoding capability to any country’s institutions and millions of citizens using many languages is a major challenge.

As search engines and internet browsers support setting language preferences, a first wiki content objective for any language is the provision of pages that explain the meaning, system and structure of all tagcoding hashtags in the language. This is the objective of the #xy2wiki programme which can be instantiated for any language via its 2 or 3 character ISO 639 code: for instance #bn2wiki (http://bn2.wiki) for Bangla, #pa2wiki for Punjabi (http://pa2.wiki), #tgl2wiki for Tagalog (http://tgl.wiki), #es2wiki (http://es2.wiki) for Spanish, etc.

Each #xy2wiki wiki should provide in language “xy” all the tools that this handbook demonstrates in English (#en2wiki with url http://en2.wiki or http://www.ens.wiki).

To enable a digital Public Sphere and forge the required trust between institutions, citizens, and business, all tagged content, limited to a language or not, merges into a focussed discourse streams, including one for every local government unit. Everyone can have a voice in these streams, and everyone can see what others have shared. Because of their combinatory character tags can be very specialised or rather general. They can be configured to the level of scope where the public-private discourse occurs.

A third engagement step: #tag2wiki

Once the #xy2wiki preparations have been completed, native speaking users of the #tagcoding hashtags can be assured that meaning gets communicated in a wide variety of inclusive Lifeworld related discourses - a digital Public Sphere, truly public and inclusive becomes enabled.

Once hashtags have been adopted at scale in a country or for a language, a hashtag search is likely to have a limited horizon in the past. Therefore it is recommended to curate in the #xy2wiki pages the contents of tagged posts that contribute original quality content on the corresponding topics. The use similar page and wiki naming conventions facilitates the aligning of pages in different languages and/or countries.

A fourth engagement step: #lean2book

This #tagcoding handbook uses hyperlinks and hashtags to extend the book’s storyline with content that is on the internet, in wikis, and on social platforms. Consider that the reading device for the e-book is likely to have access to the internet.

The content that is referenced may have different access regimes. Content in the public domain is referred to as public content and is available to all under the same access regime, this is for free and with no restrictions to reuse. Content that is protected by copyright or other rights regimes, much of it will be in printed books (#cpc322) or on-line text based information (#cpc8431), cannot be reused without approval by the copyright holder.

Using hyperlinks in on-line books or e-books (#cpc84311) such as those published via Leanpub has several advantages:

• The author can avoid to reword and repackage existing content, and can build upon others’ work in a direct and transparent manner; the author can focus on the original contributions;
• Content that is in the internet could evolve and improve between the point in time when the e-book was first produced, and the point in time that one is reading it, making use of the hyperlink;
• Where the hyperlinked content is in wikis or blogs that support discussion or comments, readers can give comments, to further improve the state of knowledge of a topic or area of concern;
• Authors can harvest the hashtag-coded discourse to periodically update their topical book or article.

Systematized public content, for instance in wikis that are maintained via a #tag2wiki curation approach, draw the attention of authors and readers to the possibility of reusing or referencing such content in their work. By using and expanding the systematized public content, its quality and utility will gradually improve, especially also in languages in which there is as yet little online content.

The expectation of improved content quality gives a reason for later returns to specific “content” via hashtag searches, both to the discourse, the wiki pages and the e-books.

While #tagcoding, #xy2wiki and #tag2wiki are collaborative journeys, the authoring of e-books is often an individual journey.

A fifth engagement step: a digital Public Sphere

The “public sphere” is generally conceived as the social space in which different opinions are expressed, problems of general concern are discussed, and collective solutions are developed communicatively. Thus, the public sphere is the central arena for societal communication. In large-scale societies, mass media and, more recently, online network media support and sustain communication in the public sphere.

The German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in his Speech at the opening of the eleventh Bellevue Forum “Democracy and the digital public sphere – A transatlantic challenge” (March 1, 2021) summarizes expectations regarding the digital public sphere: “So much is expected of the public sphere in a democracy. It must reflect the plurality of society and be accessible to all, foster reasoned debate, open up spaces for new ideas and political goals, provide reliable information and empower people to participate responsibly in democratic processes. These ideals have guided us since the Enlightenment”.

Using #tagcoding as a means to promote and follow-up a discussion topic has several advantages, including:

• Everyone (with a platform profile that allows tagged posts) is empowered to contribute to a debate or discussion, meaning they are truly inclusive;
• When systematically defined hashtags are used, content about very specific topics can be easily retrieved, for instance, marine aquaculture in Indonesia has coding hashtag #isic0312ID;
• The use of #tagcoding by authors and readers supports collaborative scoping and avoids information overload as well as the bewilderment it causes;
• Each coding hashtag supports a “single-version-of-the-truth” “search” for the discourse on the searched platform, at any point in time, and across languages.

Hashtag-coded discourse supports authors and readers in updating their knowledge about a wide range of topics and related ideas. Also the systematized public content, the reliable information, can easily be updated and expanded.

If there is “public content #xy2wiki” wiki for each language (used in a country), maintained by curators who extend it with new pertinent content from hashtag-coded posts, then this is an important asset for the country’s digital Public Sphere in each of its languages.

In conclusion: the current use of the internet and social media contributes less to the digital Public Sphere than is possible with the intensive use of #tagcoding, #xy2wiki and #tag2wiki.

#tagcoding Code of Conduct

By #tagcoding we can fight information overload, avoid over-researched topics, and make the world of knowledge small for everyone. The success in this global journey also depends on adhering to certain principles in dealing with content that others have created, and when contributing your own content.

Respect for copyright

It is rather meaningless to discover content via a coding hashtag, then copy or repeat it, and post it with the same or a neighbouring hashtag (e.g. a different country code). Your content is likely to appear in the same search result as the copied content.

Rather if you wish to strengthen the original author’s message, retweet or repost it, or like, favorite, +1 it.

By #tagcoding a new work, the author expresses confidence his or her content is not infringing the copyright of others, or is not just repeating what is already readily available (online).

Avoid spam or aggressive, commercial push of content

A common (social) media practice to reach a larger audience is to repeat the same post regularly or at many places.

For instance in Twitter, some post the same content weekly, daily or more frequently. In LinkedIn or Facebook we may post the same content in multiple groups, etc. #tagcoding in a public platform makes such multiple posting unnecessary to reach your target audience (on the condition #tagcoding conventions have been adopted).

By using coding hashtags, the author or publisher opts out of spamming-like, excess content-push attitudes addressing readers. He or she posts once, and next let the readers discover the content, via the content’s hashtags, when they need it. This is called “on-demand”.

Contribute to an inclusive, non-polarizing discourse

A discourse has questions and answers. Authors tend to use the print and social media to share their answers and opinions, even without questions being asked.

Where can people express their burning questions? Or opinions that they consider relevant for the public?

People working in an “under-served” economic activity can add fitting coding hashtags to their question. A question can become prominent as it is liked by others, or acknowledged by an expert. And when a person able to answer comes across a prominent question, he or she can be sure that the #tagcoded answer will be appreciated.

The hurdles to joining the discourse are much less on a “open social platform” than in a closed group of app users, or in a closed platform.

By #tagcoding questions they become part of an inclusive discourse, in addition to answers and arguments.

If opinion is destined for a social media bubble away from public debate, then using tags is not recommended: using #tagcoding hashtags indicates that content is not intended to polarize, but rather is intended to serve in public debate.

Global adoption of coding hashtags

Adoption of #tagcoding at scale is a societal challenge, especially as there is no (direct) commercial or political interest in such adoption.

Some coding hashtags have been “organically” adopted at a global scale. This is the case for the hashtags for the sustainable development goals: #sdg1, #sdg2 to #sdg17. For these hashtags, on Twitter, over a hundred of shared posts a day, or even per hour, are not uncommon. If you have an interest in a specific topic, say fighting poverty in the Philippines, the #sdg1 hashtag won’t help you much. In contrast if all #sdg1 tagged posts about fighting poverty in the Philippines would also carry #sdg01PH or #sdg1PH, simple search for these tags would retrieve the content that interests you.

Also, some people have intuitively used #sdgKE for sharing content on sustainable development in Kenya.

Since early 2018 some knowledge institutions are using hashtags for sustainable development targets, for instance:

• “#sdt1714 - enhance policy coherence for sustainable development;”
• “#sdt123 - by 2030 halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level, and reduce food losses along production;”
• “#sdt61 or #sdt061 - by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all;”
• “#sdt055 or #sdt55 - ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making.”

The abundance of #covid19 content, in combination with the desire of many to ensure that content reaches a specific target audience, has inspired many people, including public agencies, to combine #covid19, and more recently also #omicron, with the ISO country codes or US state codes. Due to the pandemic and extensive communication about it via social media, the use of certain forms of #tagcoding has increased.

This increased use has also highlighted the need for “internationally agreed” #tagcoding conventions in order to avoid homonyms in global platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn.

Consider this: globally two character ISO country codes are much used, usually in combination with #covid19, for instance #covid19CA for Canada, #covid19CO for Colombia, or #covid19IL for Israel. In the US, on the other hand, it is common to use the state abbreviations, such as CA for California, IL for Illinois, CO for Colorado, leading to the same #covid19 tag variants with a very different meaning.

What happens? When “periphery” users of a hashtag discover their distinctive tag codes are already used in a “core”, they are likely to stop their good practice. Which is unhappy because they where doing the right thing. The impact is that periphery users are being deprived of a utility of the platform.

For an equal opportunity use of a global platform, homonyms in hashtags should be avoided .. as a matter of net etiquette. It especially a responsibility of users in the “core”.

The alternative for a US state is a code which starts with #covid19US. Next one could add the state’s abbreviation, for instance to form: #covid19USCA. Or use the state’s census code, which is 06 for California, to form #covid19US06.

Despite their usefulness for organizing content in the internet and social media, structured hashtags do not easily spread organically. That’s why I urge every reader of this handbook to promote them actively in the areas and for the countries and local government units of interest, especially also for domestic and local use, and in your mother tongue.

Note that for the alphabetic part of the hashtag, no distinction is made between upper case and lower case characters. Also you cannot include non-alphanumeric characters except the underscore “_”. In longer multi-word hashtags it is common to capitalize the first character of each word, such as in #MeToo or #AddisAbabaActionAgenda.