The emergence of hashtags in microblogging is one of the most significant innovations in the way memes and topics are tracked in the Web 2.0 world.
What’s a hashtag?
A hashtag is a combination of the pound symbol (#) followed by a keyword, generally associated with whatever topic is being tracked.
An example of a hashtag someone might use is #sxsw, which would be placed in the context of a message talking about or discussing the South by Southwest conference, as seen below.
Why should hashtags be used?
The biggest reason to use hashtags in your messages is to make it easier for others to connect and follow the topics you are talking about. I can post about a topic as much as I want, but only the people who are following my messages will see them. When I include a hashtag, someone else could do a search for the hashtag using a site like Twemes or Twitter Search and see all the messages about that topic.
Who determines what should be hashtagged?
Anything has the ability to be hashtagged, though most users try to stick to items they think others may also be interested in and posting about. Twemes and Twitter Search each provide a “hot list” of the most active topics. Twemes even allows you to sort by recentness (hour, 24 hours, week, month, year).
When have hashtags been used successfully?
#ramday - July 25, 2008 was declared #ramday by Shelley Greenberg, during which everyone was supposed to tweet unknown, random or silly facts about themselves.
Shelley posted a recap on the #ramday meme on her blog, thespottedduck, and shared some of the most interesting tweets she saw. If you look at the Twemes page for #ramday, you’ll see that tweets were still pouring in for several days after the official event day.
#080808 - The #080808 hashtag was discussed on Microblink last week and had been organized to mark the start of the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, China on August 8, 2008. All users were encouraged to share how they were celebrating the Olympics and to tag their posts with #080808. Even as the day has passed, Twitter Search shows that users are still using the tag to discuss this year’s games.
Which microblogging platforms support hashtags?
The hashtag phenomenon was born on Twitter through the emergence of sites like Twemes, Hashtags.org and eventually Summize (which is now Twitter Search). Due to the popularity of hashtags, many users have been requesting support for the tracking method on other platforms.
The following platforms support hashtags (please update us if we’re missing some):
Rob is one of the founders of Microblink. His interests include how people are using microblogs and the community growing around them.
Mike writes and edits for Microblink day-in and day-out. He is known as the marketing guy and handles most of the microblogging accounts.
Mark writes development-oriented posts as well as news items. He's not afraid to dive headfirst into technical topics for the sake of the team.