A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a hash symbol (#) that is used to identify and categorize social media posts, especially on Twitter and Instagram. Hashtags are used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet or Instagram post, making it easy for other users to find and follow conversations around those topics.
For example, if you are tweeting about a music festival, you might include the hashtag #musicfestival in your tweet. Other users who are interested in music festivals can then search for or follow the #musicfestival hashtag to see all the tweets related to that topic.
Hashtags can also be used to start or join in on social media campaigns, such as #MeToo or #BlackLivesMatter. They are also commonly used in promotional campaigns to get people to engage with a brand or product.
Hashtags are an important part of social media culture and have become a common way for people to connect and engage with each other online.
The use of hashtags as a way to categorize and search for social media posts can be traced back to the early days of the internet. The first known use of the hash symbol for this purpose was on the internet messaging board IRC (Internet Relay Chat) in the late 1980s, where it was used to label groups and topics.
The use of hashtags on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, however, didn't become popular until the late 2000s. On Twitter, hashtags were first introduced in 2007 as a way to group tweets around a particular topic or event. The hashtag #barcamp, for example, was used to group tweets about a technology conference called BarCamp.
Since then, the use of hashtags has exploded, and they are now a ubiquitous feature of social media. In addition to being used to categorize and search for posts, hashtags are also often used for humor, irony, and to express personal thoughts or feelings.