Hashtags.

What are hashtags? When did they become popular? These are the questions that I’ve been asking myself since we started discussing hashtags and chatrooms. A hashtag is a word or phrase prefixed with the number symbol (#). Example: #WeAre. It first showed up in a blog post by Stowe Boyd in 2007. Twitter began hyperlinking hashtags in 2009. It would lead you to the search results of that particular word or phrase.

Hashtags can be used as a way to promote a cause, categorize a tweet, or make a topic trend. On Twitter, when a hashtag becomes really popular, it ends up on the Trending Topics page. People who see this trending hashtag are more likely to use or retweet it because it’s ‘cool’ now. Hashtags have also become popular on other social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Instagram users write hashtags as a way to classify their pictures. Hashtags such as #wcw (woman crush Wednesday), #tbt (throw back Thursday), and #fbf (flash back Friday) are all popular. I personally have used these before, but only when looking through old pictures and feeling especially nostalgic and would like to post a dated picture. You are also able to search through hashtags and find related pictures. Facebook has followed suit. Users are able to post and search hashtags on the website. It seems to me that hashtags on Facebook and Instagram are used for a more social purpose, such ad posting funny pictures. Hashtags on Twitter can have more influential social and political meanings.

There have been some prominent hashtag campaigns over the past few years. The first was #standwithPP, which asked the Susan G Komen Foundation to restore funding to Planned Parenthood. #Kony2012 was supposed to raise awareness of Joseph Kony and his child army. The point of it was to stop Kony, but this vague proposition didn’t really get anywhere. Nobody knew exactly what it meant. Although the campaign raised millions of dollars and got 2.4 million tweets in March of 2012, it didn’t do much in the way of ending this Ugandan military leader. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is another example of social activism using social media. The point of the project was to raise awareness of ALS and bring in funding for the foundation. However, the challenge turned into a funny social experiment for most people; who could get the most creative and make the silliest video. This pulled away from the original purpose. The #IceBucketChallenge might have been put to better use if donations were stressed more than doing the challenge itself. And like most things on the internet, people lose interest and find some other project to work on.

Are hashtags really the best way to promote a #cause? Or are they better suited for simple, social uses such as #tbt? From the articles I’ve read, it seems as though certain hashtags have a relatively short-lived lifespan. The long-term effectiveness of a hashtag has yet to be seen, in terms of social and political promotions. Even the #tbt might become obsolete in six months or a year. Social media, networking, and the internet are constantly changing. In a few months, someone might find a different way to promote causes instead of hashtags, and then they too will become obsolete.