The Role of #Hashtags in Social Media and Search

By now everyone has seen or heard hashtags used. Yes, I said 'heard' because hashtags have now infiltrated contemporary culture and advertising campaigns. One blogger recently ranted in a blog post about how the hashtag is ruining the English Language. Regardless of origin, or how you may feel about hashtags, they will not be going away any time soon.

The History of Hashtags

In the early days, hashtags were only used by the social media early adopters. As understanding grew of how hashtags work, they became widely embraced by the marketing and advertising industry. Today, the hashtag is part of pop culture.

Most people relate a hashtag with social media. Some see them as annoying disruptions to perfectly logical discussions. Others see hashtags as a way to express the thought of the moment.

The truth is, hashtags are widely misunderstood, misused and abused, as demonstrated in the humorous #hashtag skit video below of Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake hashtagging their way through a conversation.

Examples of Hashtags Gone Wrong

Because a hashtag puts a word, acronym or series of words together without spaces, unfortunate interpretations turn good intentions into Epic #Failures. It pays to put a little effort into selecting the hashtag(s) you will use to communicate online.

Use With Caution

When topics begin to trend, people with seemingly have nothing else better to do than jump in and use the hashtag in ways that were never intended.

Epic Hashtag #Fails

As with anything you cannot fully control, a hashtag can take on a life of its own, or be hijacked, or become a "bashtag" as the following widely-reported faux pas.

#McDStories produced a stream of less than complimentary commentary by consumers in 2011. This hashtag has since become a case study of what can go wrong with hashtags and kept alive by consumer tweets using the #McDStories hashtag.