Be A Hashtag Ninja

The hashtag! We've all seen them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (although they are next to useless on Facebook, but that's another story), but there is much more to using one of these than most people realise and having just witnessed the perfect misuse of one, I thought it was about time I wrote a blog post to share my hashtag tips, dos and don'ts.

The way I see it, there are three main uses of hashtags. I'm going to deal with the easiest two first as most people get these right. Firstly, jumping into conversations and getting your post seen. This is the main use on Instagram and to an extent on Twitter. If you tag your photograph #CatsOfInstagram you are trying to get your picture seen by people looking for pictures of cats, and if you search #CatsOfInstagram you know you're going to see lots of pictures of cats. The world has got the hang of that one.

Secondly, we have the comedy hashtag; using a hashtag for comedy effect, usually in a tweet, that you don't actually expect someone to click on and find a whole conversation around it. When I used the hashtag #TakeAnInanimateObjectForAWalk the other day on Twitter, I didn't actually expect anyone to click on it and find a whole movement around taking tea trolleys on public transport (which is also another story). Regardless of whether they are funny or not, most people mess around with hashtags in this way and that's fine.

Then we come onto the most difficult hashtag, the event or gathering hashtag. Something is happening (be it a one off event, a course that runs for a year or a group that meets every week), you're tweeting about, you're sharing pictures on Instagram, you want other people to do the same, and you want people to be able to see all of these posts and find out what's going on. You need a hashtag, but most importantly you need a unique hashtag...unless you're an organisation who attracts the volume of posts that something like the BBC does - they could probably pick any hashtag they wanted and make it their own! I'll prove to you what I mean about the importance of unique hashtags. I just saw a tweet about participants in #WhateverTheHashtagWas. The hashtag was four letters, I assume initials, and I didn't know what they stood for so I clicked on it to find out more. What appeared was a mix of football and I think medical tweets, and one person announcing they were off to the pool! None of these seemed related to the tweet I'd been reading. The result, I'm none the wiser about what was being participated in, have forgotten what the letters were, and have lost interest in the tweet and am now writing this blog post about hashtags instead! Probably not the desired outcome. The moral of this story, do a few Twitter searches before you claim a hashtag as your own to see how unique it is, choose something that isn't going to attract lots of unrelated noise, and encourage everyone involved to use that hashtag (people using the wrong hashtags just directs people to the wrong places where they might not see the information you want them to see or they might be saying amazing things about you and you'll never know!). Get it right and this use of a hashtag can be a brilliant thing, get it wrong and you lose the attention of people who might want to get involved.

#BeAHashtagNinja

PS This is called Be a Hashtag Ninja because I used it for comedy effect at  the bottom of the post, then did a quick Twitter search for it and realised it's unique, so am claiming it for sharing this post and will see what happens (probably nothing!)

Why I Won't Put a Heart on my Facebook Profile

We've all seen them, the heart and nothing else as a Facebook status, the single colour or word that makes no sense. Then you get the inbox message, post whatever-it-is-this-time to your Facebook profile to raise awareness of whatever-it-is-this-time​.

I admit, when Facebook was new to me I got sucked into these games, but I think it's important to clarify why, if you send me one of those Facebook messages asking me to post something random, I will now ignore it.

Firstly, posting a random word or emoji to your Facebook profile doesn't raise awareness of anything because people don't know what it is. Admittedly, the private message that goes with the heart for breast cancer awareness does contain a reminder to check yourself, which is definitely a good thing, but don't you think posting an article on how to check yourself to your Facebook profile would do more good and raise more awareness? In fact, here's the advice from the NHS website. Go on, share it now!

I've found out from experience that personally written posts get a reaction and get people talking, and that's what you need to really raise awareness. I talk about my dermographia because I think it's important that other people that have it see it as a positive thing and not something to be ashamed of.

I've posted about the amazing treatment I received when a smear test revealed abnormal cells and reminding people how important it is to get tested, in response to an article about the decline in young women going for cervical screening. I've also posted on Facebook in the past about why I won't post a heart to my Facebook profile for breast cancer awareness. All of these posts have received more likes and comments than any heart I've ever seen as someone's status.

Social media can be a wonderful tool and there have been some brilliant awareness raising campaigns. The Ice Bucket Challenge is the obvious success story, but I've just read about Asthma UK's #scarfie campaign, which is a fun way of showing people with asthma how to avoid the cold air trigger in the winter. It's fairly easy to spot which campaigns are productive and which aren't. The Ice Bucket Challenge clearly told everyone it was about ALS/Motor Neurone Disease and asked people to make a donation, and these have helped fund massive advances in research. The #scarfie actually shows people how they can help prevent an asthma attack. A random word posted to Facebook doesn't really have the same impact.

My other reason for not partaking in these games is that the people I know, who's lives have been touched by the terrible illnesses that they claim to raise awareness of, don't agree with them. At best they think they are pointless and at worst they find them insensitive and upsetting. I can't speak for everyone on this, of course, but I do think it's worth remembering that some people feel upset rather than supported by these things.

I guess what I'm trying to say is we need to think about what we're posting. Is it really going to help or could we be doing something more useful? And on that note I'm off to share the advice on checking your breasts from the NHS website to my social media.

(F.E.A.R.)

I'm aiming to get better at posting links to the reviews I write for The Reviews Hub on here, rather than just linking to them in my monthly roundups. So, let's start with my review of Mr and Mrs Clark's (F.E.A.R.) at the Riverfront, Newport this week - a one man show performed by Gareth Clark:
http://www.thereviewshub.com/f-e-a-r-the-riverfront-newport/

Where's the Theatrical Gone?

The observant amongst you will have noticed that the name of this blog has changed. It's a very small change, just one word (and the URL is exactly the same), but Theatrical Adventures of an Onion is now Adventures of an Onion. Don't worry, I'm not dropping the theatrical - those of you who know me are well aware that I could never do that! I just want to open the blog up a bit to discuss film, TV and other popular (or not so popular) culture topics as well as theatre. So, welcome to Adventures of an Onion! I hope you continue to enjoy my adventures and I'd love you to share your own with me and my readers too.

Brief Musings on La Cage Aux Folles

My first theatrical outing of February was to see La Cage Aux Folles at the New Theatre, Cardiff. I probably wouldn't have bothered going, having seen the wonderful version in London years ago starring John Barrowman, but my Dad wanted to as he'd never seen it before and I certainly wasn't going to object to seeing it again. I was a little worried that it wouldn't live up to my previous experience but I actually really enjoyed it. As it's not one of those shows who's soundtrack I play on repeat I'd forgotten how great the music is, and the cast performed it brilliantly. The big chorus numbers were particularly impressive and the cast in full flight all singing together was quite the sound. However, this was a Bill Kenwright production and came with the rough around the edges feel that I've unfortunately come to expect from this production company - costumes not staying done up, dancers not drilled well enough - a shame really as this cast deserves better. Still a good night out though.

February Roundup

I'm rather late posting this, I know, but here's my round up of theatre and films attended in February, complete with links to my reviews, tweets, blog posts, or podcasts that I've guest appeared on relating to them:

La Cage Aux Folles, New Theatre, Cardiff (2 February)

Lego Batman, Vue, Cardiff (5 February)

T2 Trainspotting, Vue, Cardiff (5 February)

Meet Fred, Soar Centre, Penygraig (6 February)

Sinners Club, The Other Room, Cardiff (16 February)

Cinderella, Phoenix Theatre, Ton Pentre (24 February)

The Wedding Singer, New Theatre, Cardiff (27 February)

La La Land and the Top 5 Musicals of All Time

Ross Keniston - writer, presenter, interviewer...and my partner! - has just launched his brand new venture, Micstand. It starts with weekly podcasts talking about, well, whatever people want to talk about really. For week one he wanted to discuss La La Land and, since he and I saw the film together and disagree on rather a lot of points, he asked me to be his first guest. I hope our discussion is of interest to people and I'd love to hear other people's views on the film. Do you agree with Ross, me or have an entirely different view? Have a listen to the podcast and get in touch with your thoughts.

For the second part, we shared our personal top five favourite musicals of all time. I won't list them here, you'll need to listen to the podcast, but again I'd love to chat to you about your own personal top fives, what you think we missed and what you think we definitely shouldn't have included. Leave a comment or get in touch.

There are plenty of ways you can listen to the podcast. It's on Mixcloud, YouTube and iTunes so there's no excuses - listen now! Oh, and you can follow Micstand on Twitter too!

January Roundup

Here's the shows, a comedy gig and a film that I've seen in January 2017 with links to reviews, podcasts and tweets from me about them:

Mary Poppins, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff (5 January)

Peter Pan, New Theatre, Cardiff (6 January)

Impractical Jokers Santiago Sent Us tour, Manchester Arena (12 January)

La La Land, Vue, Cardiff (16 January)

Sunny Afternoon, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff (17 January)

A Regular Little Houdini, Chapter, Cardiff (27 January)

Theatrical New Year's Resolutions - One Year On

I'd completely forgotten about my blog post from last January, Theatrical New Year's Resolutions, until I just happened upon it. Considering, I haven't done too badly at sticking to it. The gist of it was to see more theatre, particularly Welsh theatre, but theatre in general - as much and as varied as possible.

Let's start with the productions that I've covered for The Reviews Hub. I completed just 7 reviews in 2015 and 18 in 2016...that's definitely seeing more theatre! Here's what I covered:

Play/Silence – The Other Room, Cardiff

Henry VI – Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

Sand – The Other Room, Porter’s, Cardiff

Smash It Up – Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

St. Nicholas – The Other Room, Cardiff

Mr. and Mrs. Laughton – Sherman Theatre, Cardiff

Cosy – Weston Studio, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

Only The Brave – Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

Tell Me on a Sunday – New Theatre, Cardiff

Jem & Ella – Sherman Theatre, Cardiff

Constellation Street – The Other Room, Porter’s, Cardiff

Mrs Reynolds a’r Cena Bach (Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian) – Sherman Theatre, Cardiff

The Importance of Being Earnest – The Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff

A Sunny Disposition -The Other Room, Porter’s, Cardiff

Black Stuff – Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

Blavatsky’s Tower– Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

Before I Leave – Sherman Theatre, Cardiff

Swarm – Bute Town History and Arts Centre, Cardiff

I'm really pleased with the increase in reviews I was able to write last year but I haven't reviewed anything since August! Imagine if I'd kept up that momentum all year! So that's the aim in 2017, keep reviewing all year.

There are plenty of Welsh productions on that list, which is great and something that I'd like to keep up this year. I'm most proud of my first ever review of a Welsh language production, and thanks to one of my fantastic editors, it was published bilingually - a first for The Public Reviews!

Of course I saw plenty of productions that I wasn't reviewing but I'm rather rubbish at remembering what I've seen when so that's another aim for 2017 - keep a record of every processional production that I see.

I had two big theatrical adventures that I intend devoting separate blog posts to. I got my first experience of the Edinburgh Fringe last year thanks to a certain cloth puppet called Fred, and an epic weekend in London involving No Man's Land, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Lazarus was our holiday.

I'm really lucky that working on Hijinx Unity Festival means that I get to see some fantastic international theatre and call it work. The highlight of the 2016 festival was easily Falling in Love with Frida - spellbinding from start to finish!

There is one that will definitely stick in my mind from last year. I had a very proud dance teacher moment seeing one of my girls dancing in the RCT Theatres pantomime, Dick Whittington!

I also intended blogging more in 2016 and didn't make it past January so let's see if I can do better with that too!