I appreciate the post and I think it's insightful, but I think the real question is how did you get it on the front page of hacker news!

I think that would be a very good next post to write about :)

Add your blog's Twitter handle and URL to the post! That's an easy way to get more exposure. That said, good work in building a following quickly

Interactions + Mentions. Finding/creating hash tags that are relevant to your interests or you think will help you generate hype or momentum. (common sayings, trendings.) Getting retweets from credible blogs or other people (with similar interests and large followings) helps a lot. After you have a following, it's about what you do to shape them that's important in order to get the feedback you need and build more followers.

Interesting 'study'. I wonder if it's particularly repeatable though. Football fans are incredibly tribal - they actively want to be part of a group, and following someone on Twitter is a very lost cost way of participating. As far as engagement goes, sports fans are low-hanging fruit.

Doing the same thing for a new coffee shop for example, would probably be a great deal harder.

Hashtags are a very powerful way to find online communities with a given interest. As the OP found out, you also need to find the "right" hashtag for you, among the many alternatives there are for most subjects.

In case you need that, try out my free tool: http://hashtagify.me/#gators

*built