Many Twitter users don't know what to make of hashtags, the keywords often appearing in Tweets that are preceded by the # key. They're quite useful for search (as attendees of our Twitter webinars know), but a new web service, Twubs.com, makes it even easier.

This user-friendly and (currently) free site gives you a live Twitter stream for any hashtag, surrounded by related hashtags. It lets you tweet to that hashtag/Twub, with the hashtag and Twub links already built in (though you can remove them with a click of the red X) and add other hashtags. It also lets you attach a video link or any URL (which it will automatically shorten) to your Tweet.

The site's goal is obviously to build its own community on the back of Twitter, as Twubs has the capability to let you add virtual events, join a Twub (check out the FollowHR and SocialRecruiting Twubs for starters) and give it tags, a description, related web links and feeds, and embed the Twub as a widget on your own website.

If you're looking to network with targeted talent, it's easy to find people talking about particular subjects, conferences, etc., be part of the discussion, promote yourself and get recommendations of similar discussions. Having the similar hashtags list ("Related Twubs") handy is great when you're wondering what other relevant places your Tweet should go. You can just add those hashtags to your Tweet.

Is all of this possible without Twubs? Sure, but not necessarily all from one place, so it is easier this way. And if the effort to build community is successful (most Twubs don't have critical mass yet -- the site only launched last month, after all), then that adds another dimension.

Neil Ashworth explains that Twubs helps your marketing, by allowing you to:

• link to your site, providing powerful backlinks at no cost
• find followers in your niche you didn't know before
• add your blog feed into the twub itself.

I think Twubs might have enough legs to take off, so I agree with Neil that there's probably a first-mover advantage if you target a few relevant Twubs in your recruiting niche now.

P.S. Learn more about Twitter for Recruiting methods and tools from Arbita ACES's two-part Twitter DVD series.