Wayward Sisters hashtag confusion: Which hashtags are important for social media rankings?

Nielsen follows hashtag use during new episodes of Supernatural, but which will be important for Wayward Sisters?

There’s a lot of confusion over the use of hashtags on Twitter during new episodes of Supernatural. With the next episode being the Wayward Sisters backdoor pilot, fans want to make sure they’re helping as much as possible. However, there’s lately been some confusion, as Kim Rhodes (who plays Sheriff Jody Mills) has said the official hashtag for the spin-off is #WaywardSisters. Yet previous official Supernatural sources have said #Wayward is the one to use.

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So, which one should you use?

Well, actually for Nielsen it doesn’t matter. Neither is tracked. The only official hashtag to use is #Supernatural. You want it to be one of the first two hashtags used in all your tweets from three hours before a new episode (in your timezone) to three hours after the new episode airs. Only those in the U.S. count, but if someone in the U.S. retweets someone in another part of the world with the hashtags, the tweets get counted.

Make sure the last letter is an L. One of the automatic options is actually a capital “i” and it doesn’t count towards the Nielsen ratings. This is why some people have taken to using a capital “L” at the end to ensure they’re using the right one. Caps or not don’t matter when it comes to the hashtags.

Also, you don’t actually have to be watching the show or tweet anything about the show. It’s all about the use of the hashtags.

Awesome, right?

A few #Supernatural examples:

Good: This is awesome! #Supernatural

Good: #WaywardSisters is so cool. #Supernatural

Good: I’m not even watching #Supernatural tonight but I’m helping the show

Good: Elephants are cool. I like ham sandwiches #Supernatural

Good: Why are people tweeting about the #SupernaturaL?

Bad: I really want #WaywardSisters to be picked up. I’m #Waywardaf. Go #Supernatural (it’s the third hashtag, so doesn’t count).

Bad: #SupernaturaI is pretty awesome (it uses a capital “i”)

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But what about #Wayward vs. #WaywardSisters?

It’s only The CW and the show that are interested in these hashtags right now. They’re not important for Nielsen, but they are important for the spin-off pickup. Nielsen won’t follow the hashtag until the show is officially picked up and then given a timeslot on the network.

The great news is that means the positioning of the hashtags don’t quite count. But what’s the point in using it? Is it still that important? But which one is right?

Yes, the hashtags are still important. #WaywardSisters is the one for the backdoor pilot and has been confirmed since Kim by Robert Berens. This is the title of the episode, and most weeks the episode title is used as a hashtag, so The CW and the showrunners know people are talking about a specific episode.

#Wayward appears to be the official tag for the spin-off as a whole. There’s nothing wrong with using it but the other two take priority.

So, in short:

• Use #Supernatural in all your tweets as one of the first two hashtags
• Use both #Wayward and #WaywardSisters to let The CW and show know you’re tweeting about the spin-off.

Next: Wayward: The Documentary, telling you exactly why Wayward is so important

Are you ready for Wayward Sisters? Will you tweet along with the episode next week? Share in the comments below.

Supernatural returns on Jan. 18 at 8/7c on The CW.