Have you ever been on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and wonder why some users like to put the number sign # in front of certain words? If you don’t already know, this symbol is what people call the hashtag. The main purpose of the hashtag is to group messages or captions so that social media users can search for information that contains the tagged words.
Hashtags were first used in 1988 on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC), a network where users could talk to each other through channels that are categorized by hashtags. For example, if you wanted to find people talking about cupcakes, you just had to type in #cupcakes. Then, hashtags really started to gain popularity though 2008 and 2009 after Twitter users around the world started using it. Because of its popularity, Twitter began hyperlinking hashtags so users can search for hashtag-ed text. Then, one by one, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, Google + and Linkedin all adopted the hashtagging abilities.
But if you have been roaming around on Twitter, Instagram or even Facebook, you must of realized that users today sometimes use hashtags as more than a grouping tool. Some users like to express their feelings that they wouldn’t want to write in the caption or status, such as #feelingsad. Other times, social network users use hashtags to entertain other users. #worstjobieverhad and #angelinajoliesrightleg (a popular hashtag referring to Angelina Jolie’s thigh-high slit gown at the 2012 Oscars) are some popular and funny hastags.
Hope this gives you a quick overview on what the hashtag is. On that note, I would like to encourage you to follow IT-FITs on Twitter and Instagram @ScrippsITFITS. We occasionally post updates on upcoming workshops, new resources it the faculty lab and other exciting things happening in the community.
By ITA, Priscilla Wang
Sources:
http://www.copypress.com/blog/the-hashtag-a-history-deeper-than-twitter/
http://socialmediatoday.com/irfan-ahmad/1897096/history-hashtags-infographic