[Loooong post alert. Grab a coffee.]
So, the past week has brought a lot of interesting events and happenings in Kingston. From PAB, to Doors Open, from Teddy Bears to Music Festivals and from fires…. to, well, bigger fires. I’ve been watching it all very closely on Twitter and trying to keep up. It’s been hard, though, because while big events (like PAB) have dedicated hashtags, smaller going-ons never do. We chatted about this a bit at the last meetup, too, and are beginning to think of a solution, but I’ve been doing some more thinking on my own, too.
First, I pondered the idea of a single, generic tag that could cover all local events. Something like #kingstonon, or #kngon (to keep it short – on Twitter, every character counts) or something like our airport code #ygk… But none of that seemed right – a sweepstakes at the mall and a parade downtown then share the same tag… And until local events begin to have their own tags, that’s going to get very confusing, very quickly. So I thought we could break up the city in a way that would make sense… And the more I thought about this, the more I realized it was already done – by Canada Post!
The Down-Low on Postal Codes
Ahh, the postal codes – something I’ve been developing more of a personal interest in. The postal code system in Canada is set up with 6 characters, three letters and three numbers, formatted as D1E 2F3. The first three characters are the FSA (Forward Station Area) which break down a specific area of a province or city and the last three are the LDU (Local Delivery Unit) pinpoint a specific area within the FSA such as a street, block or sometimes a single building. Because of the way the FSAs work in Kingston – I decided that breaking the city up along those lines made the most sense. If you want to learn more about postal codes, check Wikipedia.
The Hashtags
So I’m proposing we begin tagging news, events, important updates and similar using the FSA as a hashtag. I’ve set up a rough map showing the rough areas according to the Canada Post map. I’m also providing a list of major landmarks within each hashtag zone, along with a specified suggested colour. Click on the read more link below to read all about the new tag zones for Kingston. Part of the beauty of this system is that it can be easily adapted for use anywhere across the country.
I’d appreciate feedback on the hashtags – the idea is to help bring the community together on this, so redefining them together is alright by me. Also, if I missed any notable landmarks, I’d appreciate knowing those, too.
