Tweeting without a hashtag is like reading without a book. But what is the purpose of the hashtag? Who started this trend of topics beginning with a #?
The first sighting of the hashtag was used with IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, to assemble together topics or groups. The hashtag was not made popular until 2009 when Twitter decided to use the hashtag symbol to group together topics and make words or phrases trend if they come after a #.
Nate Ritter populated the first hashtag when he posted about the 2007 California wildfires in San Diego. Every time he would talk about the wildfires he would mention #sandiegofire to connect that community, which later became the first high-profile application of a hashtag.
There are many uses for hashtags.
Companies use #s to promote their business and events that are happening. This allows the public or employees to use this hashtag so that everyone is connected and the hashtag may start trending.
We forgot to mention when a word or phrase is trending, people all over the world are able to see it on their Twitter homepage.
Clubs and organizations also use it to promote and educate what they stand for.
One of the most common types of hashtags is when something worldly is happening that everyone is involved in. The World Series or Olympics would be a good example of a trending hashtag because there are a large number of people talking about these topics.
Are you wondering why we are talking about hashtags like it’s the best invention since sliced bread?
The hashtag can sometimes be overlooked when running a business or an organization. Set one hashtag for the whole company and use it in every social media outlet you run. Just because the # is well known on Twitter does not mean it can’t be used on Pinterest, Instagram, or even Facebook. People will be connected to your business, which may help it grow.
Doing a search for a specific hashtag can help you view what other people are discussing about a certain topic. If you search your own hashtag, that can give you an idea if people are saying positive or negative things about your company.
Hashtags are an important social media tool and very simple to use. They can benefit you and your company. Hashtags are a way of connecting to the world around you. #bakercreative #socialmedia
