When the concept of the hashtag was first mooted by Chris Messina, many dismissed it as a thing for nerds. And yet today, hashtags have become a hugely effective way of pulling together different posts about the same subject. Some 12 years after Messina proposed their use, hashtags have become ubiquitous all over social media. So much so, that Instagram had to put a 30 hashtag limit on posts and even there, Instagrammers found a way around by adding more hashtags to the comments section. Are you a hashtag user – or abuser?
According to one report, 85% of the top 50 websites use hashtags. Hashtags rule social media. They decide who or what ideology is winning the day on Twitter.
Somehow netizens got the idea that using hashtags made them look cool, or funny or with-it or in the know of things.
Hashtag enthusiasts were using them on Facebook – before hashtags on Facebook were a thing!
Facebook soon realised that automatically hyperlinking hashtags was a good idea… it was increasing engagement so of course, they went with it.
Speaking in hashtags may appear cool but it really isn't.
Creating some extra-long, complicated hashtag may appear cleaver. But, at the risk of repeating myself, it really isn't. Most people cannot make sense of it and it isn't likely to catch on.
Hashtags are used so that people can find your post. This doesn’t work when an account is private, so hash-tagging a post in a private account is about as useful as the ‘g’ in lasagna.
Hashtags for a funeral notice? See how that can get really, really weird? So use hashtags sparingly; where they are relevant and required. Don’t be a hashtag victim.
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