Unfortunately, for me, the hashtag is the problem. You need to keep these things simple.

#RLWigCats is never going to help to spread the word of rugby league, most people will just look at that and will ultimately go 'wtf'. Keep it simple, #rugbyleague, #superleague are sufficient. If you have a few games going on the same day, neither of the more unique hashtags will trend, not over here anyway - in Australia you've got a much wider audience as the sport over there is much bigger and therefore more people can mention it at the same time and get it trending.

As you said, Widnes trended, but so did the challenge cup both this year and last, along with the grand final last year. You don't even need the hashtag, as things trend based on keywords. Leeds Rhinos trended earlier in the year without hashtags.

So say you've got a derby weekend, there's no chance you can get #RLBraLee, #RLWigSts trending, but you can as an overall #superleague or #rugbyleague tag. Uniques won't work until we get more people tweeting about League in our own country.

I completely agree, just use #RugbyLeague for all of it, it's all I mainly use and get enough responses.

As a side note, shouldn't it have been #RLWigCat, without the added 'S'? It's Catalan, not Catalans.

Sorry but I disagree.

As I pointed out, there are easily sufficient enough numbers for the game to be trending more often. The reason we don't trend more often is because there aren't enough common words in the tweets. In my previous post I pointed out a small number that I found in 1 minute where no search would find them.

#rugbyleague is already used as it is the natural hashtag to put but has only trended once. It is also too general, there are a variety of different things that people could be talking about. It has been in use for a good amount of time now and I've found it quite frustrating. People don't use it because it is generic and during games the number of tweets can be very few. When you're talking about an individual game, using #rugbyleague just doesn't seem natural.

Whilst the Australian style hashtags might seem confusing (which I would disagree too), once somebody was to click on it it would be clear what people were talking about - a specific game that they could potentially switch on if it was exciting. It is certainly better than simply 'Ganson' trending. People generally know what #rugbyleague means and I doubt the fact that they know about it would mean that they are more likely to click on it. Let's not forget, Australians have got their tag trending worldwide because it has been used that much, not just in Australia. Their generic NRL or rugbyleague has been much less popular. I think it's doing people a disservice to suggest that they wouldn't understand it, are Australians more intelligent than ourselves?

Even if it does not trend then it is not the be all and end all. Even between rugby league fans it would be beneficial to develop a specific tag system, especially if it gets people into the habit of tagging full stop. It would make it easier for people's views to be found. #rugbyleague hasn't caught on, it's time to try something different.

It's certainly worth trialling for the last few games of the season. If not we can always try something different.

Just found a great example of my point. Here are some Australians discussing hashtags back in May, Quote: nko11 "Rugby League and specifically the NRL has a large following on twitter. Many fans spanning across many teams converge to discuss each game. Unfortunately There is no set #tag for each game meaning most tweets either don't use any #tag or use the old worn out #NRL tag. If you sign into twitter during the weekend you will see in the Australian trends many AFL games trending. They use the system effectively and the AFL promote it extremely well. Unfortunately the NRL does not do the same. I have been in contact with the NRL about this, despite getting a reply they still have failed to organize anything. It will give a live forum(esque) type experience and will get Rugby League up in the trending topics where it belongs. I ask anyone who is on twitter to use #tags like these It then had the reply... Quote: nko11 "#RugbyLeague and that way there's even more chance of it trending because it's not just for individual matches but the game in general, English fans use it for Super League and others for different things going on around the world. Could even trend Worldwide one day.'" People underestimate how many people are following our game. It even suggests that twitter blocks #NRL and #rugbyleague from trending because they are ongoing hashtags. Anyone doubting should go to forums.leagueunlimited.com/showt ... tag&page=2 and see the bother that the Australians had in getting it started. Much the same criticisms applied. They even doubted whether they would be able to get rugby league to trend in Australia.

Just found a great example of my point. Here are some Australians discussing hashtags back in May, Quote: nko11 "Rugby League and specifically the NRL has a large following on twitter. Many fans spanning across many teams converge to discuss each game. Unfortunately There is no set #tag for each game meaning most tweets either don't use any #tag or use the old worn out #NRL tag. If you sign into twitter during the weekend you will see in the Australian trends many AFL games trending. They use the system effectively and the AFL promote it extremely well. Unfortunately the NRL does not do the same. I have been in contact with the NRL about this, despite getting a reply they still have failed to organize anything. It will give a live forum(esque) type experience and will get Rugby League up in the trending topics where it belongs. I ask anyone who is on twitter to use #tags like these It then had the reply... Quote: nko11 "#RugbyLeague and that way there's even more chance of it trending because it's not just for individual matches but the game in general, English fans use it for Super League and others for different things going on around the world. Could even trend Worldwide one day.'" People underestimate how many people are following our game. It even suggests that twitter blocks #NRL and #rugbyleague from trending because they are ongoing hashtags. Anyone doubting should go to forums.leagueunlimited.com/showt ... tag&page=2 and see the bother that the Australians had in getting it started. Much the same criticisms applied. They even doubted whether they would be able to get rugby league to trend in Australia.

I always finish my Rugby Tweets with #rugbyleague #superleague - simple & to the point, during Challenge Cup game just switch #superleague with #challengecup. Although something like #SLwarlee for the Warrington/Leeds match would be handy

Think this is a good option a collective use of specific tags to promote the game. My suggestion is they get listed here in advance and some of the journos are brought on board as advocates to promote their use. Be good if the rfl took social media more seriously

I'll tell you what, if you get #RLTm1Tm2 trending over the next few years here in the UK, then I'll tell you you're right and tell you I was wrong.
As a web developer, who has strong background in social media, unfortunately, I just can't see it working. I think you'll come to realise this, but you're wasting your time IMO with the unique hashtags over here.

Fair enough.

I'm not deluded enough that I'm convinced it will work but I am optimistic and I think it's certainly worth a shot especially if we get certain people on board. Let's not forget it's sole aim isn't solely to trend but to provide a convenient hashtag for in game discussion. Enough people have expressed a desire for this that it may become the norm.

If it fails miserably, and there is a good chance it will, at least we'll have tried something and we can go back to using only #rugbyleague.



For those interested in the trial for the weekend we conducted a poll on a separate website over which hashtag people would like to use. The winner was #RLWarLee and #RLStsWig, using the Sky abbreviations of clubs. So it you're an in game tweeter why not try adding those tags on and seeing if we can get a good discussion going.

If #rugbyleague doesn't trend then I really don't see the theory in splitting that up even further.

I preferred #RLcatwig personally

Me, I'm happy to use them

It's not all about the trending. Why bother using #WidnesRL or #WiganRL or anything if it seen as splitting up the tweets? If you're talking about the game then it makes sense that you have a game tag. #rugbyleague could take you to a whole host of things unrelated to the game in play.

People don't generally use #rugbyleague for in game comments. Some do but a lot don't. There have been a fair number of people who have liked the idea of using a specific game tag. In fact it was only an off comment on a separate forum that got people interested in the idea.

Like I've said previously there was opposition in Australia to splitting up #rugbyleague and #NRL for the same reasons. However, the in game tags have ended up surpassing the use of both of those tags. If the same happened over here we still might not trend very often but we would have a better in game discussion.

If it's not for your taste then that's fine, I don't want to come across like I'm forcing my opinion on anybody. I just think it's worth a shot.

Try following @internationalrl, my brother is helping to start it up and it is looking good but could do with some more followers. (also at internationalrugbyleague.webs.com/)

Try following @internationalrl, my brother is helping to start it up and it is looking good but could do with some more followers. (also at internationalrugbyleague.webs.com/)

If you want to know about ongoing games then how about using the #liverl tag that Love Rugby League and a few updating services use?

To be honest I always liked the #liverl tag and the way that Love Rugby League used it, it is what I used to update Widnes scores. However, it has not been widely used.

Update on the trial we have had a tweet supporting the use of #RLWarLee and #RLStsWig from RL World, John Drake, Andy Wilson, Gareth Walker, the fake Phil Clarke account and Dave Woods. Touching 10,000 RL followers on twitter. I've also received private e-mails from two other national journalists supporting the idea.

Ditto #rugbyleague