If your social feeds feel stale—or your online outreach needs a boost—it might be time to up your hashtag game.  Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter allow users to create topic-specific feeds by filtering posts that use the same word or phrase, preceded by a #. It’s one of the easiest ways to insert your brand into conversations in progress or trending (aka proliferating) on social media. It’s also a way to start conversations with your followers.  But if you’re online, you know there are more ways to misuse a hashtag than there are diamonds in a tennis bracelet. We asked Peg Fitzpatrick, social media strategist and coauthor of The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, for her tips on how small businesses can cash in on the hashtag. Jump Into the Fray “Hashtags really connect conversations,” Fitzpatrick says. “And they help