How To Use The Hashtag
When did the pound symbol develop another use or meaning? Since social media has taken our society by storm, there is another way to keep up and track common themes and ideas when using social networking sites. The hashtag (#) was made famous by Twitter, linking users who hashtag the same phrases together in one streaming line of newsfeed on Twitter. Although Twitter made this hashtag famous, all sorts of networking sites, including Facebook and Instagram, are also utilizing it.
How does the hashtag work?
A hashtag is a key word or phrase with no spaces and the # symbol in front of it. A hashtag can promote an idea, event, cause, etc. For example, #GoVols is a common hashtag used on Saturday game days here on Rocky Top. If I am scrolling through my feed on a Saturday looking to see how other Vol fans are spending their game days, I can search for #GoVols on any networking site and it will bring me to content that has been tagged with that specific hashtag.
Why do we use the hashtag?
The hashtag’s main purpose is to unite groups of people discussing common concepts, creating a dialogue across all social platforms. This type of dialogue generates an engagement among people that can reach across the world. It is fun and exciting to learn new ways to engage with others via technology; but the point of the hashtag is to use sparingly and keep it general. A hashtag can be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of a caption, tweet, post, etc. The purpose is to allow others to follow and participate in your content.
Although the hashtag can be used for personal interaction online, businesses and brands are now using it as a way to market their products and services. Just this past year Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Denny’s Diner, and many more brands used hashtags on social sites to engage their consumers with hashtag campaigns and get their brands trending on Twitter and more social networking sites. Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke campaign allowed consumers to share their personal stories online while allowing other consumers to see them.
Who knew the use of the pound symbol would ever be so engaging and so vital to how we interact socially with others online, and be incorporated into our lifestyles!
