How might being part of a family reunion interest you in the future?
“Hashtags (#) enable you to teach the internet what to tell people.” (Steven Magee)
Our road trips typically include casual “drop in” chats with family members scattered in various places around the country. So on our most recent visit to see my cousin in Durham, North Carolina, she informed me to my surprise that her parents would be joining us for the meetup as part of a more formal dining occasion. I didn’t feel that comfortable with allotting extended time and some awkwardly silent moments during such a social arrangement. So as I thought hard about how to make these conversations go more smoothly, it just so happened a few days prior to the meetup, I remembered reading a social media post lauding the value of using hashtag recommendations to search for convenient topics of conversation. So I decided to use our Durham rendezvous location as the main hashtag focus for this family social gathering. Here’s what I came up with in my research.
Durham, North Carolina
#fashion, #love, #art, # dogsofinstagram, #photography, #music, #style, #fitness, #newtork, “handmade, #bullcity, and #duke
With plenty to talk about now becoming clearer to me, I began an experiment to bring up frequently four of those hashtag topics in my conversation during that Sunday gathering. Thus by keeping the Durham hashtag focus in mind, I included queries about fashion, music, photography, and fitness. As these issue conversations grew increasingly more openly shared by all, I felt the time appeared right to suggest our family might plan a reunion in the future. With similar familial connection intent, I then called my mother in Florida whereupon we all chatted briefly with her by speaker phone. While nothing conclusive resulted as to time and place for planning such a celebratory family event, I did notice how considerably more family friendly togetherness resonated around the table during the remaining minutes of this visit.
So what have I learned about hashtag use in a social context today? They definitely help keep the conversation going in a positive direction toward interests that all might share. Such common intimacy creates more “feel good times“ in what matters now and can negate the oftentimes awkward need to obsess on distant past memories that can fade or become distorted over time.
Consider then what hashtag topics might serve you best to sustain such productive conversational interest in the present during that that long awaited family gathering? Here are a few photograph ideas from our past American travels that you might consider?
Blog Source:
Snippets of a Traveling Mind 
It was a fun visit. Looking forward to seeing everyone in October .
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s great that you’ve been able to combine road trips with family visits.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cosmic clarity
LikeLiked by 3 people