Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are great places to document your rides or perhaps even gain inspiration and share tips. But to make the most out of social media, you need hashtags. Yes, hashtags are still so important, and now with Instagram stories integration you have a real chance to get your content noticed. While not every cyclist is about the status game of creating a large following on social media, using hashtags in your posts can greatly increase the chances of your account being discovered by people who are interested in your profile or brand.
What’s more important is that using hashtags helps us to connect and engage in a niche online community like the women’s cycling community. If you’re looking for an online women’s cycling community to connect and be inspired by, follow and use these hashtags. Don’t be afraid to comment and connect too, you may just meet ride buddies and friends that will last you for years to come!
#WOMENSCYCLING + #RIDELIKEAGIRL – both of these hashtags cover the same scope of women on bikes doing their thing, riding bikes. The hashtags also cover women’s road cycling, women’s cycling brands, and any type of riding women do. It’s a celebration of women being awesome on their bikes.
#SHREDTHEPATRIARCHY + #GIRLSONBIKES – these hashtags are very much the same as #womenscycling but they cover more of women’s cycling sport teams and group rides to break down the barriers that keep women from mountain biking, cycling clubs, and racing. It’s a true “gotta see it to be it”.
#WOMENOFCOLORRIDEBIKES + #BLACKGIRLSDOBIKE – in other hashtags above, it’s not often you’ll see a woman of color so in these hashtags it’s great seeing other women like yourself on bikes. This hashtag shows you what community looks like when women of color come together to build community, improve access to cycling as a sport, lifestyle, and safety in their communities. Girls and women need inspiration and role models in cycling of all shapes, color, and sizes too.
These hashtags celebrate all these types of women on bikes. People actively search for community hashtags, so if your photos and videos show up in the search results, you get instant exposure to a new audience. I believe that using hashtags to cultivate and create community can advance not only your social media experiences but actually connect you with incredible people! Through women’s cycling related hashtags, I’ve been lucky to meet some rad cycling ladies and connect with women’s specific brands.
Be a community builder by placing your best content forward and be someone who uses their story, caption, and creativity to bring people together, encourage others and help others find authentic and meaningful relationships through social media. While algorithms are changing the way our following and feeds look, we don’t have to change authentic content and connections.