Hashtag

What is a hashtag?

A hashtag is a kind of hyperlink that is easily created on social platforms. It is made up of one or more words (written without spaces) preceded by the pound symbol (#). For example: #love or #veganfoodie.

Hashtags have a characteristic similar to that of links or links that we see on any web page . When the numeral symbol is added to any word, it is assigned a property: if we click or press on it, we will be redirected to another section of the social network in question.

Origin and function

Also known as a tag, this tool was created for Twitter in 2007 . User Chris Messina proposed its creation through a tweet. This social network is characterized by highlighting issues of local and global interest, so hashtags are an important part of its dynamics.

It was through this platform that it was used for the first time and with this we learned about the concept of “trend”. If many people talk about the same topic and use tags that link their tweets with others (who have also used those hashtags), a trend or trending topic.

It is through the tags that people can search to know what other users are commenting on the different topics. Therefore, the main function of hashtags is to collect all the publications that many users have made at a certain time.

For example, if an accident has occurred in a certain city, people on Twitter, or other social networks such as Instagram, can write a hashtag with the name of the city in the search bar (or click on one in a post) to find information about such news .

Similarly, if someone wants a lot of people to read or view their content, they can use related tags.

What to use them for?

Hashtags can be used to:

• Position yourself according to topics or niches: people who develop their personal or business brand use tags with words related to their activity. The aim is to attract interested users who later become clients or fans of the brand.
• Highlight events or news: they are widely used to report on some last minute event.
• To differentiate themselves: some companies or people create their own hashtags, that is, a combination of words that have never been used or that have never been used, to stand out from the competition and so that their content is easily found.

Examples of hashtags

• #Sees it
• #Beautiful
• #tbt
• #Smile
• #hbday
• #social media
• #instafood
• #travel
• #instastyle
• #food
• #vegan
• #sun
• #Fashion
• #Photography
• #picoftheday
• #food
• #NY
• #flashfriday
• #Mother’s day