Dumb question, what does hashtag mean ?

[Mikey]

I looked it up but the explanations are a bit confusing.

I know it's a twitter thing I think.

Imagine I just landed on the planet Earth from planet Stupid.

How would you explain what hashtag means ?

Also, why do people like twitter so much, isn't it just email on a cell phone ?

[Wise4671]

I don't know either I always thought it was something stoners put in there weed back in the 60's LOL

[cockyhoskins]

Think of a hashtag as a topic or title for indexing purposes, like an old card catalog.

Putting it in terms of our Mego Museum here... If I tweeted, "Holy crap! The new FTC Bats 1966 figures are awesome #Mego", the hashtag Mego (#Mego) would allow anyone who searches for the term Mego on twitter to see my post.

In everyday terms, if you're watching the Super Bowl, and tweet, "Seattle is whipping the ***** out of Denver! #SuperBowl", that hashtag would be incredibly popular in real time as millions are watching the Super Bowl. It would start "trending" as a top 10 most used hashtag, thus notifying others what the most popular topic is at the moment.

[cockyhoskins]

As for why I like twitter, I use it for sports updates. My wife sees it as Facebook for celebrities, but I follow sports reporters and other sports fans. When I'm wanting score updates, etc., I can get them instantaneously on twitter. (Plus... boobs! Go search the hashtag #FriskyFriday since today is Friday).

[Mego Magyar]

It funny that you're asking this because I just asked someone this last week - cockyhoskins answers it about the same as I got, indexing.

[Mikey]

Thanks for the info

The final straw that made me want to know was I keep hearing somekinda controversy about the First Lady hashtagging some saying about the kidnapped African girls.

Was just wondering what's it all about

[jds1911a1]

I deal with folks from Australia a lot and they call the # a hashtag while we americans call it a pound sign or the number symbol
I don't user facebook or twitter or instagram this is the closest I get to social media

[Brazoo]

Yeah - hashtags work in twitter and facebook now too just as cockyhoskins said, it's a way to index the topic of your post so people who are interested in that topic can find it.

You aren't stupid at all - it's probably also very confusing to understand hashtags because it's become very popular to use hashtags improperly.

Like someone trying to be funny might post something like: "I just got back from my work out #myarmpitsstinklikeamonkeybutt" The joke being that the hashtag in this case won't work as a hashtag because it's too specific to work as a hashtag. Hilarious, right? Sigh...

Also, people seem to use it to emphasize what they're saying as if the hashtag is an exclamation point or something. It's weird.

Here's a Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake video where they have a whole conversation making fun of the people who use hashtags improperly just because it's a trend to use them:

--

Twitter isn't like email - people are mostly having public conversations on it, it's more like a stripped down Facebook.

Part of the popularity of Twitter is that it's stripped down to simple messages. I follow NASA, Conan O'Brien and the band Public Enemy. If I go to Twitter I might see a quick post with a link from NASA, a joke by O'Brien and a quick update on the next P.E. tour. I can get a bunch of quick bits of info that interest me.

Part of it is also based on the fact that celebrities can share and communicate with fans without sharing as much information as they might on Facebook. For example, I follow Conan O'Brien because he posts jokes once in a while. There's no commitment on O'Brien's part to share anything other than his jokes. He can use Facebook to communicate with his real family and friends - he doesn't have to mix his personal life with his public life. Facebook also has fan pages where celebrities can do this too now, but Twitter is still more popular.

Another thing is that on Twitter if you end up in a conversation about a specific topic you will probably be speaking to a much wider net of people than you would be on Facebook - just because the focus is more on topics that interest you, instead of your personal relationships with people.

[torgospizza]

On my Twitter account, I only really post links to news stories and use the hashtag as a means of giving interested people a heads-up or as a way of underscoring a point that might otherwise be overlooked. It can be a handy way of cutting to the chase when you only have 140 characters to work with.

[kingdom warrior]

It's a trendy way of getting one to look at what you posted....over used as everyone will use it to say anything, to get attention. Once upon a time it was the pound sign.....

[ODBJBG]

Also, people seem to use it to emphasize what they're saying as if the hashtag is an exclamation point or something. It's weird.

This isn't as strange as it might seem on the surface. Hashtags are typically used at the end of Tweets, thus they work almost as a form of punctuation. Which is why they're used by people as forms of expression, just like punctuation. You're adding emphasis to what you've said by including a hashtag... If you're using them in this way.

As for Twitter, it's definitely more about community conversation. Closer to a forum than email and not really like Facebook at all, IMO. Facebook is far too cluttered and it's all about your "friends" and family. It's intimate or at least, designed to be. Twitter is about having conversations with lots of people, all at the same time. It's more like texting, which is exactly what it started off with.

But it has a character limit, so you don't get those long forum type posts (like this) or annoying things that Facebook has.

Not that Twitter doesn't have it's own set of issues, but when used right, appeals to people because of it's brevity and efficiency in getting messages across.

[Brazoo]

I know people use it that way, but that's the incorrect use. The whole idea of hashtags is to organize various people's posts by topic and link them together. That's why it creates a link.

Click a hashtag and see for yourself - it will take you to a page of random tweets that use the same hashtag.

--

Let's say I go on Facebook or Twitter and post:
"I just got the new Batman toys! #Batman66"

Now anyone who is interested in Batman 66 who searches "#Batman66" is going to be able to find MY post - and ANY other posts that might use that hashtag. The topic "#Batman66" is now more easily searchable. People can even click the hashtag in my post and see any other posts that used the same hashtag too.

If the #Batman66 tag gets used more often it will trend - and become more visible to more people. That's why you see people promoting stuff trying to encourage you to hashtag brand names or phrases. Look at the "Trends" box in Twitter at any given time, and you'll mostly see hashtags.

It works the other way too - let's say I'm interested in Batman 66, I can now go to Twitter and search "#Batman66" to see how people are posting about it. It gives me an idea of how popular Batman 66 is right now.

Most people use it wrong - they're either making a joke or using it for punctuation - but using them that way doesn't actually give it the function it's meant to have.

[ODBJBG]

I know what hashtags are for and what their original function is. I was just trying to explain what the basis for their expanded usage in language and pop culture is based on. The genesis of that comes from hashtags being used to punctuate a point, hence the reason it's become a trend for people to end a thought with a hashtag, even in places where hashtags aren't functional.

[Brazoo]

Hashtags in use: I just searched "#MegoMuseum" and found a bunch of posts using that hashtag. Now I'm going to follow everyone on that list.

[Brazoo]

I know what hashtags are for and what their original function is. I was just trying to explain what the basis for their expanded usage in language and pop culture is based on. The genesis of that comes from hashtags being used to punctuate a point, hence the reason it's become a trend for people to end a thought with a hashtag, even in places where hashtags aren't functional.

Ahh - okay yeah - I see your point. I was also trying to comment on the two posts before your post too though.