Stowe Boyd
Tag synonyms are simply the use of '=' to assert the equivalence of two tags, as in "#h1n1 = #swineflu".
The idea is that users could simply state the equivalence of tags which would help people directly, by becoming aware that two (or more) tags represent the same thing. This is directly helpful for anyone seeing the tags being 'synonymed' and just as importantly, tag-aware applications (like search, clients, tag repositories, etc.) could take advantage of the synonym relationship in useful ways.
Two or more tags within a tweet, separated by an equal sign. Other text can occur on in the message as well.
#h1n1 = #swineflu = #aporkalypse
use the shorter tag for the conference #140char = #140c